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20 Days, 20 Questions: Can the Flames figure out Morgan Frost?
Photo credit: Sergei Belski-Imagn Images
At the end of January 2024, Calgary Flames general manager Craig Conroy pulled the trigger on a trade.
Headed to the Philadelphia Flyers were pending free agent Andrei Kuzmenko, bubble forward Jakob Pelletier, a second-round pick and a seventh-round pick. Headed back to the Flames were winger Joel Farabee and, perhaps the big target for the Flames, centre Morgan Frost.
Through the end of the 2025-26 season, Frost has played 114 games with the Flames. And as he enters the final year of his current season, and potentially can become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year, we’re still trying to figure out precisely what role Frost can play in the Flames’ future.
Can the Flames figure Frost out this season?
When we say “figure Frost out,” here’s what we mean: Mikael Backlund has a clear role on the Flames and identity to his game. He’s the hard-minutes, two-way centre who faces the other team’s toughest lines. Do you expect him to score key goals? Nah, he’s more of the “prevent key goals against” guy.
A few key things have happened since Frost arrived that make it a challenge to figure him out. The first is his on-ice performance and usage. Let’s carve his time with the Flames into three segments:
- Arrival to April 2025: 32 games, 3 goals, 12 points, minus-6, 50.5% face-off wins, 48.7% expected goals for, 57.5% offensive zone face-offs
- October 2025 to February 2026: 61 games, 13 goals, 29 points, minus-16, 55.3% face-off wins, 49.2% expected goals for, 65.0% offensive zone face-offs
- March and April 2026: 21 games, 9 goals, 14 points, even, 60.3% face-off wins, 46.0% expected goals for, 69.1% offensive zone face-offs
The consistent thread is that Frost consistently wins a good amount of face-offs, but he’s required a pretty good amount of sheltering since joining the Flames.
Yes, he’s scored a pretty good amount, but he’s been given pretty good linemates – consistently playing with some sort of mix of Matt Coronato, Matvei Gridin and Jonathan Huberdeau – and among the highest offensive zone start rates on the team. And after Nazem Kadri was traded and he became the de facto first line centre, he kept producing but his underlyings took a bit of a hit as he saw slightly tougher opposition.
That is to say: Frost is a good NHL forward, but he’s required quite a bit of sheltering so far to be effective. He hasn’t established himself as The Guy that they can throw over the boards to score a big goal. Or as the guy that can be sent out there to finish out a close game.
The other big thing that’s happened since Frost’s arrival is that the Flames have acquired a slew of young centres through free agency, trades and the draft. Since January 2025, the Flames have added Cole Reschny, Cullen Potter, Theo Stockselius, Yan Matveiko, Jonathan Castagna, Max Curran, Tyson Gross and Jack Hextall. And yeah, there’s no guarantee that any of those eight young players will surpass Frost at the NHL level.
But if you have a limited amount of ice time to figure a player out, you’re almost reaching the point where you have to choose to figure out Frost or any number of younger centres with potentially more upside.
Frost is a useful NHL player. He’s good. But we’re reaching the point where the Flames and Frost have to decide whether to commit to each other long-term or not. Here’s hoping the Flames can figure Frost out in the very near future.
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