ALLENTOWN, Pa – Roster uncertainty has been a theme around the NHL and AHL a bit this season but look no further than the Philadelphia Flyers to give an extreme case of injury woes in the early going this season.
The Flyers have been without a few of their key players since the start of the season. It was recently revealed that forward Kevin Hayes and summer acquisition defender Ryan Ellis have re-injured themselves in recent comeback attempts. Both players will once again be on the shelf, and the Orange and Black will be looking for longer-term replacements for the pair. Defender Nick Seeler has been making the most of his opportunity so far, but one player has been making a lot of noise with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms that’s making him hard to ignore: Morgan Frost.
Frost is no stranger to NHL action, having played 20 games with the Flyers in addition to the Phantoms during the 2019-20 season and notching seven points (two goals, five assists) during that span. Frost only got two games in Philadelphia last season and was sent to Lehigh Valley this season despite receiving high marks from current Phantoms coach and former Flyers assistant coach Ian Laperriere before the season. Frost has done all he can for the injury-plagued Phantoms squad, which has been missing 11 players due to injury and ranks among the AHL’s best with 15 points (three goals, 12 assists) in 16 games. He’s heated up even more recently, tallying 13 of those points in his last ten games, including four multi-point games and a three-point night against the Rochester Americans on November 19.
Goals in back-to-back games for @_morganfrost_10 . He loves to pick that upper-right corner! pic.twitter.com/PKC1bEEAGG
— LehighValleyPhantoms (@LVPhantoms) November 23, 2021
His success makes him the top scorer on the Phantoms, five points better than second-place scorer Garrett Wilson, and it feels like only a matter of time before Chuck Fletcher calls for him to join the Flyers like so many fans on Twitter would like to see. However, the Phantoms would undoubtedly be okay if their NHL affiliate took their time making that decision, as Frost’s heroics have allowed them to collect points in three of their last four games missing such players as Tyson Foerster, Tanner Laczynski, German Rubtsov, and Linus Sandin. Foerster, the strong young scorer that made his AHL debut early last season, suffered a shoulder injury that has him out for about five months, nearly the rest of the season. Lehigh Valley got some good news on Tuesday when forward Wade Allison returned to practice after a high ankle sprain during a rookie squad game back in September. Allison is another player knocking at the door for the Flyers, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see both players in Philadelphia at some point.
It all makes for an interesting decision for Flyers management just over a month into their season. Philadelphia has certainly improved after a season to forget in 2020-21 and are leaning into their depth pool to fill those key positions. To this point, Max Willman has filled in on the Flyers’ roster with four games and no points. Still, it’s becoming increasingly hard not to give Frost a chance, particularly as Philadelphia plays a difficult stretch of games leading into December. Frost was named Lehigh Valley’s Player of the Week on Tuesday for his outstanding performance as another piece of evidence he’s tearing up the competition in the AHL. It’s only a matter of time before he’s recalled to Broad Street to help the Flyers this season.
