Flyers reportedly recall Morgan Frost in hope for offensive boost

It’s not often that a player will be tossed on the earliest flight possible to join the team in the middle of a road trip, but if there was ever a moment to, it would be this morning for the Philadelphia Flyers.

In the wake of Kevin Hayes’ re-injury, that will leave him out week-to-week, the Flyers were hoping and praying that their current forward group would stay healthy enough to stay together. Unfortunately, their pseudo-interim-top-six center Derick Brassard left Tuesday’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning with an unconfirmed injury. And with the Florida Panthers awaiting the Flyers less than 24 hours later, Philadelphia needs to dip into the prospect pool and yank out a promising center.

Morgan Frost was somewhat disappointingly given an opportunity to get back up to speed in the AHL, as he started his season in Lehigh Valley and that led to an impressive 3 goals and 15 points in 16 games, on a very bad team. Frost leads team scoring by five points, and would probably have close to double the production of the next-best, if he was given the full season to incubate in the minors.

With that level of production and a decent enough pre-season under his belt, Frost deserved the recall and will assumingly be jolted into the top-six as coach Alain Vigneault needs his playmaking to score really any goals at all. The Flyers have scored more than two goals just twice in their last 12 games—an offense that has been dried up like a rotten stone fruit in a southern heat wave now has some hope with Frost coming in.

Whether Brassard is out for a while, and whether or not Frost actually plays well enough at the top level, will determine if the 22-year-old can stay with the first team. If he can take control of that top-six spot, then it of course creates a trickle effect down the depth chart, putting Brassard (even if he returns in a couple games) down in a more comfortable position.

The real fun questions begin when Hayes is back and whether or not Ryan Ellis can create even more offense from the back; determining a full rejuvenation for a team that has found themselves already fighting for a wild card spot just 17 games into the season.