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Quick Hits: Feb. 25, 2022
1) On Friday's edition of the Flyers Daily podcast, host Jason Myretetus and I interviewed Flyers assistant general manager Brent Flahr for a prospect roundup of players in the Flyers' system.
Players discussed include Cam York, Morgan Frost, Egor Zamula, Wade Allison, Tanner Laczynski, Maksim Sushko, Ronnie Attard, Bobby Brink, Jay O'Brien, Noah Cates, Ivan Fedotov, Alexei Kolosov, Emil Andrae and more. Flahr also gave his assessment of the depth and drop-off points of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft class.
2) Shortly after Jason and I completed the interview with Brent for Flyers Daily, we teamed up again to interview TSN's Craig Button about the state of the Flyers, and how he sees things from the national perspective on what the organization needs to do.
Specific topics covered include the Claude Giroux trade rumors, a 2017 Draft redux (in regard to Nolan Patrick), Frost's development and whether Craig believes the player will eventually have an NHL breakthrough (Button believes he will but not necessarily in Philadelphia, likening the career arc he foresees to that of Danny Briere, whether Ivan Provorov is still an untouchable and the level of concern about his recent play, what the Flyers should do with Rasmus Ristolainen (trade or continue to push to sign to an extension), Craig's assessment of the 2022 Entry Draft and more.
3) The Flyers will practice at 11 a.m. ET on Friday at the FTC in Voorhees. The main items of note at Thursday's practice:
* Joel Farabee is fully rehabbed from his upper-body injury and will return to the lineup on Saturday afternoon when the Flyers host the Washington Capitals.
* After missing the last two games, Carter Hart's eye infection has cleared up and he is slated to get the start against the Caps.
* Derick Brassard was a full participant in Thursday's practice. He skated as the third line center and practiced on the second power play unit. Frost appears likely to be a healthy scratch on Saturday. Interim head coach Mike Yeo said that he does not think playing on the fourth line is suited to Frost's game but hasn't made a decision yet. Yeo said that, regardless of the decision that's made -- and he noted that he hadn't talked to Frost yet -- the message will be "Keep your head up; you're doing a lot of good things."
4) I am personally not in favor of the Flyers' recent usage of Frost; to some degree dating back to mid-December but especially since the NHL All-Star break. He was essentially yanked off the power play entirely for two games (he did get on one power play and started the puck rotation that ended in a Gerry Mayhew goal) then he found himself suddenly promoted to PP1 against St. Louis last game.
After the game, when Yeo was asked to assess the team's two power plays in the game, the coach went straight into singling out Frost for praise.
"I thought that Frosty did a great job. That’s what you have to do. You have to make reads, you have to beat pressure, and there’s one sequence where he’s basically got three guys on him, but he’s got the poise and the skill and the hockey sense to make a play down low, and I’d like to see us attack on that a little quicker when we’ve got a 3-on-1. That’s what good power plays do. Teams are going to pressure. You have to find a way to make plays, and you have to attack off that so I thought that was a great job by him. We looked aggressive. We had some great looks. We didn’t capitalize, but I’ll give our players credit," Yeo said.
At 5-on-5, with the exception of the game against Pittsburgh (where Frost did not play all that well in any aspect), he's had three straight games where he's done the things that are being asked of him -- focusing on playing with pace, engaging more in puck battles, while playing almost exclusively bottom-six minutes at 5-on-5.
Yeo said of Frost back in January, "There is a lot potential there and clearly a lot of skill. I believe in the young man as a player, maybe even more than he does." Yeo also said that he realizes Frost would score more if he was moved up in the lineup but said the goal right now isn't so much points from Frost (which Yeo said would eventually come back into the player's contributions if he more consistently did the other things that are being asked of him to focus upon).
I personally do not see how yo-yoing a player down to the AHL, then back up to the NHL, off the power play after a rough first game back in the NHL then promoting him to PP1 and praising his work then potentially taking him out of the lineup entirely again for the very next game does anything but send very mixed messages. If he's doing a lot of good things and they aren't really worried about point totals right now for him -- despite the fact that the team as a whole has struggled to score, has a power play ranked near the bottom of the NHL, and has won only nine of its last 41 games -- it's hard to instill any self-confidence of being on the right track.
I fully agree with Yeo that Frost needs to keep his feet moving consistently (it's always been about pacing and not speed per se, because he has that). I agree that he needs to be assertive and get a lot of puck touches to be effective. I agree with Flahr that Frost's defensive game, for the most part, is fine. I agree with both men that Frost in junior hockey could win battles with his hands alone or make plays at a glide or even a standstill, but that he needs to do the same more at the NHL level (he's already mastered the AHL to the point where he can put up basically a point-per-game at that league's pace regardless of his linemates).
So I agree with the main messaging but I do NOT agree with the accompanying method. Frost needs to be playing in the NHL, and he needs to be with more offensively skilled linemates and on the first power play unit (where Claude Giroux still runs the show, and where Frost can learn to do so eventually). That doesn't mean the player should not be coached or held accountable to moving his feet and competing for pucks. It means he should be used to his primary strengths. That can be at the 3C spot depending on the other wingers.
With all due respect to Gerry Mayhew (who has been playing very well and has earned his NHL roster spot for the rest of the season) and all due respect to Max Willman (who brings speed and hustle to the bottom end of the Philly lineup and, at the AHL level, is a Swiss Army knife type of player who can be effective anywhere in a lineup), neither player is a big part of the Flyers' future. They are strictly role players at the top level.
There are not many potential high-end NHL talents in the Flyers' system. Frost -- whose junior hockey production was virtually identical to Claude Giroux's, was impressive at the World Junior Championships, made the AHL All-Star Game as a rookie and who scored goals in each of his first two NHL games and has periodically shown hints of high-end ability since then -- is one of the few who is conceivably capable of evolving into an NHL point producer, at least on the playmaking side.
To me, the goal with Frost should be for him to regain his offensive confidence. Be the guy who does the toe-drag-and-shoot using the defenseman as a screen (he's only done it once all year, and nearly scored on Jonathan Quick). Be the guy who somehow threads passes through skates or saucers a pass to an open man in the opposite slot. Be the guy who leads a 2-on-1 and isn't so anxious to get rid of the puck. Be the guy who gets the puck in the corner, steps out in front of the net and elevates a backhander under the crossbar (see Frost's first NHL goal). Be the guy who might break a few eggs (in other words, turn over a puck or two because of the sheer volume of touches) but who can bounce back and make a play.
Be a difference maker. Don't just blend in and play it safe. Don't let adequate-to-decent defense be your main contribution on a given night. Frost is capable of doing those things, and has even done it here and there at the game's top level. So get him out there on PP1. Get him out there with guys who will require him to keep skating (which Mayhew and Willman do) but who can also make plays and can finish, too.
I believe that this is still the Flyers' vision for Frost, too, but they have to do their part in putting him in optimal position to succeed. I do not think they've been particularly doing that, especially with the team being lottery bound.
By the way, there is a way to give Brassard a chance to show he can stay healthy and remain in the lineup: As with Frost, Brassard is capable of playing wing, too. It needn't be an either/or proposition, especially in the short term.
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