The Philadelphia Flyers have made embattled forward Morgan Frost a healthy scratch in six straight games, and although forward isn’t a pressing need for the Vancouver Canucks, they won’t say no to an upgrade in their top-nine.
See, the Flyers are in (another) rebuild season, but they’ve actually played pretty well for the most part. Former Canucks coach John Tortorella never really saw eye to eye with Frost, and likened the forward to a ‘toilet seat’ last season. The 24-year-old responded by leading Philly in points (32) over the last 45 games of the 2022-23 season.
There are a lot of Flyers fans who think that Morgan Frost is just not good player & he deserves to be benched. We don't agree. Frost showed last year he's a legit NHLer. And actually it's not ideal situation for Philadelphia that he's only a healthy scratch. pic.twitter.com/5ycyXAIUEe
— Andy & Rono (@ARHockeyStats) October 27, 2023
After a length holdout that lasted into the first week of September, Frost agreed to a two-year, $4.2 million contract that had both less term and less money than what was generally expected. After an early 5-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators that made the Flyers 1-1-0, Tortorella took the guy he liked the least and gave him the boot from the lineup.
It’s now abundantly clear that Frost probably isn’t going to work out in Philadelphia, but the good news is that many teams will be willing to make a move for a low-risk, high-reward player on a cheap contract. If I’m the Canucks, I make myself one of those teams.
Although it’s not been the issue, depth scoring has been an issue for the Canucks. Dakota Joshua, Pius Suter, and Anthony Beauvillier have combined for one goal and two points, with the goal belonging to Joshua. Phil Di Giuseppe has played well next to J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser, but he’s also not the most skilled guy on the team. Although Frost is not some defensive maven, his playmaking skills are undeniable.
Although they’re short on left wings, it’s probably not likely the Flyers are interested in Beauvillier as a reclamation project. Perhaps with veterans Rasmus Ristolainen and Marc Staal out for the foreseeable future, Tyler Myers on retained salary might make sense. Plus, it’s not like they’re committed to playing their youth anyway; the Flyers recently sent down Emil Andrae and called up Louie Belpedio and Victor Mete over someone like Ronnie Attard.
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Even if Frost doesn’t work out for the Canucks, the worst-case scenario is that they’re back to where they are right now. On the surface level, though, the former first-round pick would represent a huge upgrade over much of the Canucks’ forward group.