Lehigh Valley loses another top prospect
Last December, the Phantoms lost top goalie prospect Carter Hart to the Flyers when goalie Anthony Stolarz went on injured reserve.
This season, they were blessed with another top prospect on the roster, but he didn’t even last as long as Hart.
The Flyers recalled Morgan Frost Monday, and he made an immediate impact by scoring in his NHL debut against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday.
Like Hart’s call-up, an injury was part of the reason for Frost’s recall. Nolan Patrick is out with migraine issues that appear to be worse than first thought, thus opening up a spot for Frost.
Perhaps a bigger reason for the move is that the Flyers haven’t been setting the ice on fire lately, and GM Chuck Fletcher doesn’t appear to be the type to let issues linger. With that in mind, Frost arrived hoping to light a fire under the team and turn things around in the City of Brotherly Love.
The 20-year-old Frost had played in 16 games with the Phantoms, amassing 12 points on five goals and seven assists. After a slow start, Frost picked up his first pro points on Oct, 18 when he had three assists against Binghamton. From there, he tallied points in seven straight games, the longest stretch by a Phantom this season.
“You can see that he’s got instincts for the game and the ability to put together some big scoring opportunities,” said Phantoms coach Scott Gordon earlier this season of Frost’s play. “He’s feeling more comfortable and you just see every game that he’s taking more and more control on the ice.”
Drafted in the first round with the 27th overall pick in the 2017 NHL draft by the Flyers, Frost played four seasons in the OHL with the Soo Greyhounds, before turning pro and was sensational in his final two seasons. He was named to the OHL First All-Star team in both 2017-18 and 2018-19, led the OHL in assists in 2017-18 (70) and 2018-19 (72), and finished second in points with 112 during 2017-18. The native of Aurora, Ontario totaled 319 points on 110 goals, and 209 assists in 268 career OHL games.
To make room for Frost, the Flyers have loaned forward Carsen Twarynski, 21, to Lehigh Valley. It’s the second time this season that Twarynski has been sent down from Philadelphia. He originally made the Flyers out of training camp and made his NHL debut for Philadelphia on Oct. 4 against the Chicago Blackhawks in Prague. Twarynski has played in 14 games for the Flyers this year during two different recalls, and scored his first NHL goal on Oct. 12 against the Vancouver Canucks. Twarynski was a third-round pick of the Flyers in 2016 and played in 69 games with Lehigh Valley last year, picking up 10 goals and 14 assists in his rookie season.
NEW LEADERBOARD ... With Frost leaving, veteran Greg Carey is alone at the top of the Phantoms leaderboard for points and assists this season. Carey and Frost were tied with 12 points, with both having seven assists and five goals. Carey, Frost and Cal O’Reilly were tied for the team lead in assists with seven, leaving Carey and O’Reilly as the team’s top scoring threats.
SLIDING ... The Phantoms have four straight losses, the first of which came in a shootout loss at Hershey. Since then, they’ve dropped games to Springfield, Binghamton and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, all coming on the road. Lehigh Valley is now 6-5-1-4 on the season, and has dropped 10 points behind division leader Hartford, and is in sixth place in the Atlantic Division. The Phantoms return home this week for two games against Charlotte and one against Belleville.
YOUTHFUL MISTAKES ... Hart has struggled at times this season for Philadelphia, but lately has been returning to form. Another youngster, Joel Farabee, was schooled in a high-pressure situation against the Capitals recently. In the nationally televised contest with Farabee going up against veteran Alex Ovechkin, Farabee turned the puck over three times. Farabee found himself pretty much benched in the final period, but took it in stride, telling reporters; “If I was the coach, I wouldn’t have put me out there.”
