We all know that the Philadelphia Flyers have a problem down the middle. The team’s current makeup of centers isn’t ideal for a team that wants to eventually compete for the playoffs and still want to play competitive hockey during this rebuild.
Sean Couturier is playing well but a shadow of his former Selke Trophy-winning self. Noah Cates is purely a depth option. Ryan Poehling is fast and has some skill but nowhere near enough to be a consistent top six option. And that leaves us with Morgan Frost, whose departure from the Flyers in an eventual trade, is starting to feel inevitable.
This issue has only become more urgent with Matvei Michkov’s first few months in the NHL. With it seeming like Michkov does not have the appropriate level of teammates to match his playmaking and ability to generate scoring chances, almost everyone can see that the Flyers need to get someone to play with him down the middle.
But, this has all lead to one media member asking Flyers head coach John Tortorella about Michkov himself playing center. Instead of looking for a much desirable center, why not just have him down the middle and then use the bounty of wingers the team has, to then play with him?
Well Tortorella had a pretty straightforward answer to that suggestion.
“No. No. We need to find a center to play with him. Frosty is with him right now. It’s been up and down. I’m not sure if that’s the right marriage. In my mind, no,” Tortorella said after Monday’s practice.
“He’s kind of a rover as a forward anyway. He’s not going up and down his wing and playing — he usually ends up most of the tie on the left side as far as leaving the zone and trying to find a stretch play. But I do think Frosty has been too inconsistent to say he’s going to be his center. Still working with him. He’ll play center Wednesday night with him again.”
We have heard Tortorella’s honest comments on Frost before — comparing him to a toilet seat is just one example — but this might be the most direct. As of right now, Tortorella does not see Frost being anywhere good enough to be an option for the role of Michkov’s center. He’s there now, but that is more out of necessity than anything else.
Beyond the remarks about Frost’s play with Michkov, we get a glimpse of what he wants from a player that will be the 20-year-old center. With Michkov playing all over the ice and having freer rein than anyone else, he probably wants someone that can be the necessary motor and be able to read positionally better than anyone else, and get wherever the skilled winger needs him to be.
Despite the current lineup of forward lines playing some very good hockey and being some of the NHL’s best lines since they were created last month, the general outlook is that this is not a team destined to be together in this configuration for much longer.
Tortorella acknowledged bluntly that it is an organizational goal to get better centers that can eventually play in the NHL.
“Our organization, we know that we need to find some answers there,” he said. “If it doesn’t come from within, we’ve got to find it somewhere. That’s why we’re drafting centers. We’re hoping (Jett Luchanko) maybe develops into one of those centers for us.”
They certainly did not try to be quiet about it at last year’s draft. Opting for Jett Luchanko in the first round over a defenseman like Zeev Buium. And then proceeding to draft tall Swede Jack Berglund, and Heikki Ruohonen from Finland; the Flyers drafted centers with three of their first four picks last June. And if it doesn’t become one of them, they could certainly go out and get that top-six center in a trade with one of their very good draft picks for next summer, or a prospect that doesn’t play down the middle.
According to Tortorella, they’re in the middle of trying to figure out the long-term plan at the center position but right now, Frost is nowhere near good enough to be the player we want Michkov to play with.
