Flyers sign restricted free agent Morgan Frost to a one-year contract
The 23-year-old has inked a one-year, $800K contract ahead of what would seem to be a make-or-break season for him with the Flyers.
Four days after extending qualifying offers to nine restricted free agents, the Flyers signed one of the most important players of that group to a new contract.
The team announced on Friday that it had signed center Morgan Frost to a one-year, one-way deal with an average annual value of $800,000. Frost, 23, figures to be the Flyers’ third-line center next season after splitting time last season at center and on the wing on various lines.
The short-term, low-cap-hit contract indicates that next season is a prove-it year for Frost, who is still looking to show that he can be a consistent contributor at the NHL level. Frost split time between the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and the Flyers last season, first earning a call-up in late November after he somewhat surprisingly failed to make the NHL roster out of training camp. In total, Frost played 55 games with the Flyers in 2021-22 and tallied 16 points (five goals and 11 assists).
Frost made the Flyers’ opening-night roster the previous season as the 13th forward, but he dislocated his left shoulder in his second game and required season-ending surgery. He made his NHL debut during the 2019-20 season and has played a total of 77 NHL games, scoring seven goals and notching 23 points. During the second half of last season, Frost got more opportunities and, according to former interim coach Mike Yeo, made some noticeable strides defensively.
» READ MORE: Morgan Frost returns to Toronto where his father once served as the Maple Leafs' announcer
Former general manager Ron Hextall selected Frost in the first round (pick No. 27) of the 2017 NHL draft. Hextall acquired the pick when he traded center Brayden Schenn to the St. Louis Blues. To this point in the NHL, Frost has struggled to replicate the offense he displayed at the junior level, where he posted back-to-back 100-point seasons with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League.
The Flyers have yet to announce deals with the eight remaining restricted free agents: Wade Allison, Jackson Cates, Hayden Hodgson, Linus Högberg, Tanner Laczynski, Zack MacEwen, Isaac Ratcliffe, and Owen Tippett.