Morgan Frost’s name will never escape trade rumors until he is either signed to a long-term contract with the Philadelphia Flyers (will never happen), or until he is actually traded.
Most recently, amidst the Flyers having several of their players in the rumor mill, Frost has not been making the most noise but there has been reportedly some teams checking in on what it would take to pry the 25-year-old center away from Philadelphia. According to a report, the Flyers are both taking and making some trade calls for Frost and there are three teams that are interested in the pending restricted free agent: the Anaheim Ducks, the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the Chicago Blackhawks.
Obviously, all three of those teams are thinking about Frost in a different way. While some might want him just as a stabilizing offensive force in the middle-six, others might want to pry more potential out of the former first-round pick and make him a longer-term solution at center. And depending on which mentality the acquiring team has, the trade package in return, heading to the Flyers, might look different.
So, considering those three teams and where they are in the competitive cycle in this sport, what are some realistic (or at least semi-realistic) trades we could expect if Frost is moved?
Anaheim Ducks
The Ducks are in a weird spot. With former superstar on the rise, Trevor Zegras, nearing a similar move out of town to Frost, Anaheim is shifting their mentality from the core of players in their mid-20s, to a new group of players somewhat younger. But, as we know by signing Ryan Strome and keeping other players around like Radko Gudas, they want to at least be respectable. Maybe, just maybe, they want to correct their wrongdoings of throwing some players like Flyers’ own Jamie Drysdale right into the NHL surrounded by other players also trying to find their footing.
That strategy that Ducks have done in the past has resulted in poor development and just a messy mush of former top picks not really being able to fulfill their potential. Now, if they added just some more talent and a player who isn’t so old that he is going to fall off a cliff soon, that just feels right and makes a whole lot of sense.
Why they want Frost is understandable, but what are they willing to give up? The Ducks still want to bring in more young talent that could be another wave of incoming rookies beyond the group of Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier, Pavel Mintyukov, and Olen Zellweger. So, they want to keep whatever high picks and good prospects they have — and Frost alone probably doesn’t warrant anything like that in return anyways.
Our eyes immediately went to defenseman Noah Warren. A second-round pick in 2022, Warren is a 6-foot-4, right-handed defenseman that has been praised for having above-average mobility for a blueliner that large. The only thing is his offensive production. In a notoriously poor defensive junior league, the QMJHL, Warren scored just 13 points in 50 games in his final season, when any respectable prospect should be dominating. And now in his rookie season in the AHL, he has earned one point in 16 games.
Warren could not make it, but his tools are just appealing enough that maybe the Flyers can really make something of him. Since he might not have a lot of value to the Ducks, throw in the Leafs’ third-round pick that they own and we can make it a deal that doesn’t really disappoint either side.
Realistic trade we can think of:
D Noah Warren and TOR’s 2025 third-round pick for C Morgan Frost
Toronto Maple Leafs
While the Ducks want Frost as a holdover and to be at least just a little bit more respectable, the Toronto Maple Leafs most likely want to bring in the hometown kid as a shorter-but-maybe-better solution. The Leafs have a depth scoring problem and have been for years now. Before prospect Fraser Minten came up and make a little impact, beyond Tavares and Matthews at center, they were depending on David Kampf to pop in a few goals — which is impossible.
If they want to really make a splash that won’t hurt them in the long term, putting Frost in as a third-line center, surrounded by some decent talent, feels like a way to get some easy success. It’s really, really simple. It would be a buy-low acquisition that could just surround him with more talent and then potentially explode offensively; more than he ever would in Philadelphia.
Hell, if they end up liking him, he might take over Tavares’s spot on the second line and suddenly Mitch Marner is a linemate. And for all of that to work, it won’t take much.
Connor Dewar has already been a healthy scratch since the Leafs acquired him from the Minnesota Wild and he has been serving his role as a fourth-line center for some time. He is clearly low on their depth chart. But, the 25-year-old center has another step. Speed and tenacity is his game and we feel like John Tortorella would just absolutely fall in love with him more than he could ever love Frost. Dewar might not have the same playmaking ability as Frost, but he is like a pestier Ryan Poehling and would just add to the Flyers’ bottom six and raise that talent floor.
And, maybe Dewar can make that extra step. He was never given more than a bottom-six role in the NHL, and considering who the Flyers have down the middle, his speed and forechecking could earn him some more responsibility and have his offensive production increase. Since Dewar is essentially nothing to Toronto, they can give Florida’s 2025 second-round pick that they own — the Leafs are more desperate to find depth and this is probably worth paying that price for.
Realistic trade we can think of:
C Connor Dewar and FLA’s 2025 second-round pick for C Morgan Frost
Chicago Blackhawks
This one is a little bit more fun. The Chicago Blackhawks have already been heavily linked to Frost this season, and just like the Ducks, they would most likely be trading for him to just not completely ruin their prized prospects and young players. They have attempted to do this during the last offseason — signing Tyler Bertuzzi, for example — but nothing has really stuck. So why not try again?
And from our Philadelphian tower, we think the Blackhawks are feeling pressure. Connor Bedard isn’t achieving as much success as he did during his rookie year and they are spiraling, trying to find any way to not finish in an even worse spot than last season. So, maybe just maybe, they would be willing to sacrifice part of their prospective future for some help right now.
Stay with us as this might veer from the path of “realistic” and might go into “ideal, for us but makes sense for both sides”. Oliver Moore was drafted 19th overall in 2023 by the Blackhawks. The University of Minnesota center has not exploded offensively like he was projected to — under a point-per-game in his freshman year and 12 points in 16 games this season — and with players like Frank Nazar, Nick Lardis, Jack Pridham, Colton Dach, and Sacha Boisvert somewhat overstepping him in terms of forward prospect rankings, he might just be expendable.
Not every prospect can find a home on one team and Moore might just find a better fit elsewhere, like Philadelphia. Moore is an elite skater that would make the Flyers go absolutely berserk whenever he steps onto the ice. If they’re looking for a center that can play with pace, then Moore might just be the best prospect in the world for that. He obviously has lacked production and might have stalled in his development, but now might just be the time to strike and be willing to trade away some key assets to get someone like him.
If the Flyers were unwilling to part with a top prospect for defenseman David Jiricek, then maybe add one of their good draft picks in this upcoming 2025 NHL Draft to Frost, and get the younger, speedy forward. Since Moore was taken at 19th overall, one of the three first-round picks might be overkill, but maybe making it a conditional second-round pick that will give the Blackhawks whatever pick ends up being the best out of the three? That could get a deal done.
Chicago would be getting a respectable NHL center that could supplement Bedard’s skill, and a top-40 pick, for a player that hasn’t really developed the way that they hoped. It might not be the most realistic, but it is something that we think both teams would be fine with and would solve some problems in Chicago and Philadelphia.
Realistic trade we can think of:
C Oliver Moore for C Morgan Frost and best of Flyers’ three second-round picks
