Frost ended the 2022-23 season as one of the Flyers' top point producers.
It's the dead of summer, but the Philadelphia Flyers will be gearing up for training camp before we know it. In preparation for the preseason, we've created the Summer Sampler series, in which we'll be analyzing every key player on the Flyers roster. We'll assess where each player stands ahead of the 2023-24 season and project what their respective roles will be for the upcoming campaign. Stay tuned throughout the summer for each Flyer's individual evaluation in the lead-up to training camp.
Several of the Flyers' young forwards took considerable steps forward last season. Owen Tippett emerged as a legitimate game-changer on the wing, Noah Cates stood out as a two-way ace in his first season as a center, and Tyson Foerster — granted, in a very small sample size — appeared to be an exciting offensive contributor on the cusp of earning a full-time role in the NHL.
Morgan Frost's development was particularly notable, though.
After a largely unspectacular 2021-22 campaign, Frost turned out to be one of the Flyers' more consistent point producers during the 2022-23 season. And even though he could still stand to refine some areas of his game going into his age-24 season, there's hope he can develop into bona fide top-six center in the not-too-distant future.
How did Frost perform in 2022-23? Frost got off to a rough start to begin the season. After logging a pair of goals and three points in his first three games of the campaign, he was held to just one point over the next month-plus while the Flyers' offense sputtered. In total, Frost managed just six points in his first 27 games of the season and was even benched for a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs in November. The former Sault Ste. Marie Greyhound was completely invisible in the offensive zone on most nights, and he was quickly losing confidence while some of his younger teammates flourished in their new roles.
But in a contest against the Arizona Coyotes on December 11, he completely flipped the narrative. Frost exploded for four points against Arizona, and that showing in the desert supplied him with all the confidence needed to turn his season around. From that breakout night at Mullett Arena to the Flyers' season finale, Frost led the team in assists (24) and points (40) and separated himself as a key contributor in the attacking zone.
He ended the season ranked fourth in points (46) behind only Travis Konecny, Kevin Hayes, and Tippett. Not bad.
Read more about Frost's 2022-23 season here.
What should fans expect from Frost in 2023-24? Fans can reasonably expect Frost to resume his role as a middle-six center while continuing to take on heavy minutes on the power play. He won't see much action on the penalty kill, but that's to be expected — Frost still has plenty of room to improve as a defender, and head coach John Tortorella will need to see some significant progress from of him in that regard in order to trust him with regular ice time on the PK.
Before Frost can do anything, though, he'll need to sign a new contract.
With only a week left in August, Frost is one of the few remaining restricted free agents who have yet to agree on a new contract. He signed a one-year, $800,000 "prove-it" deal last July with hopes of earning a significant pay raise this summer, and after his solid second half of the 2022-23 season, it's a virtual guarantee that a nice payday will be coming his way relatively soon.
What does Frost need to prove? As encouraging as Frost's performance was in the second half of last season, he still has plenty to improve upon going into the 2023-24 campaign. Not only does he need to polish his play away from the puck, but he also needs to prove he can maintain a high level of offensive production over the course of an entire season.
Luckily, Frost doesn't seem completely satisfied with his performance last season. He knows he has work to do, and he's hoping to take another step forward in 2023-24.
"I'm pretty proud of the way I handled things this year. Still, I think I could've been a lot better and could've done a lot of things better. I think I still have a tremendous amount of room for improvement," Frost told the media in April.
"I just want to keep getting better and improving, and I think I can be a real difference maker going forward."
Statistics courtesy of Natural Stat Trick and NHL.com.