2019-20 Prospect Profile: Morgan Frost Turns Pro This Fall
Frost wants to develop into a 200-foot force as he enters pro hockey
Voorhees, NEW JERSEY -- Offense has always been the headlining feature of Flyers prospect Morgan Frost’s game. This was no different in juniors, where he tallied 142 assists to go along with 79 goals in his final 125 regular season games.
As the 20-year-old prepares for his first season at the pro level, he is shifting his focus to his play at the other end of the ice. The former Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds alternate captain made this clear during the Flyers’ Development Camp in June.
“It’s definitely a little tougher [to play a defensively-sound game at the pro level] and I think that is one of those things you have to learn to balance,” Frost said. “[In the pros] there is not an off night.”
Finding that night-in, night-out consistency is going to be the biggest challenge for the Aurora, Ontario, native. As he acknowledged, sometimes at the junior level, you could get away with cheating at the defensive end and playing a more aggressive offensive game. At the NHL level, it’s a lot harder to do that and not suffer the consequences.
“[You see some players try to cheat at the NHL level] but you don’t want to stick out because if it doesn’t work out for you, then it doesn’t look good,” Frost said. “You have to know when to balance it.”
Phantoms head coach Scott Gordon, who will be overseeing a surplus of younger players on his roster this upcoming season, believes that Frost could be a quality two-way player at the pro level but also acknowledges that he has to learn how his strengths will translate.
“It does not matter if [the younger guys] are playing in the AHL or NHL, [the players] are going to be smarter and stronger,” Gordon said. “The thing that I found is that when they do move up, they have to figure out what’s going to work for them and what’s not going to work for them.”
His efforts to transform his defensive game were jump-started last season. In his final year with the Greyhounds, Frost found himself on the penalty kill often, a role that he was never really asked to play before the 2017-18 season. Even though shorthanded situations took him out of his comfort zone, Frost believes that it could benefit him greatly in the long run.
“I never really thought of myself as a penalty killer,” Frost elaborated to reporters “but if I can add that to my repertoire than that is obviously a good thing.”
One player that Frost has always looked up to for his ability to show prowess all over the ice is Nashville Predators center Mikael Granlund.
“He is kind of a smaller guy and a skill guy but he plays a 200-foot game,” Frost said. “That is one guy that, especially in my draft year, I wanted to play like.”.
Ironically, the general manager who draft Granlund, Chuck Fletcher, is the current general manager of the Flyers. Not a bad sign for the rookie.
Anyone who’s watched Frost knows that he has the potential to become a solid two-way forward. He’ll have his first opportunity to show new Flyers bench boss Alain Vigneault that in person when training camp comes around in September.
