Morgan Frost has been one of the biggest disappointments on the Philadelphia Flyers’ roster in 2024-25. Despite being given a top-six role and exposure to the top powerplay unit, the 25-year-old continues to struggle, managing just one goal and six points in 16 games.
Frost is in head coach John Tortorella’s dog house — he’s been a healthy scratch for four of Philly’s last five games — although it’s been rumored the organization will give the Aurora, Ontario native a chance to rectify his play before considering a potential trade.
Still, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman believes the Chicago Blackhawks could be a good change of scenery for the embattled forward.
“Player-team that seem a match: Morgan Frost and Chicago,” the hockey insider wrote in his latest 32 Thoughts Column on Thursday. “Frost didn’t play Wednesday against Carolina, the fourth game of the last five he’s watched from the press box. He’s not a complainer, prefers to keep any displeasure behind closed doors, but players want to play. Obviously, any dance needs partners who deal, but the Blackhawks, in dire need of centres, are one team that makes sense for him.”
Frost just can’t seem to figure it out in the City of Brotherly Love, and besides his offensive struggles, he’s been a liability defensively. His trade value is probably as low as it’s ever been, but this is still a talented former first-round pick.
And the Hawks could badly use a center.
“The teams that are looking hard at centres now — including Chicago and Nashville — have to weigh when others wade into the market,” Friedman continued. “One of those will be Toronto, for sure. The Blackhawks and Predators have the advantage of more cap space/high picks to trade, and more of a willingness to do it at this time. But as the season continues and cap-strapped teams try to build space, competition will increase.”
Whether or not Frost would make an immediate impact in Chicago is up in the air, but it’s clear that something needs to change for a Hawks team that has scored just eight goals in six games.
Blackhawks are floundering again in 2024-25
After finishing dead last in the Central Division in 2023-24, Chicago has been a similar level of futile this time around. Now 6-12-1 and in the midst of a three-game losing streak, the squad has dropped to last place in NHL standings.
“(We’re) getting less confident, for sure,” forward Teuvo Teravainen told the Chicago Sun-Times’ Ben Pope after a 3-2 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night. “Nobody is really scoring. It’s hard to get a goal. It’s hard to even get power plays. We haven’t created a lot of chances. It is frustrating.”
The Hawks weren’t expected to compete for a playoff spot this season despite a couple of improvements over the summer, but it’s a brutal start nonetheless. Connor Bedard has scored just three goals in his second NHL season, and the young phenom badly needs to get going, along with his team.
It’ll be interesting to see whether general manager Kyle Davidson makes a move to improve the roster, and whether he’ll pick up the phone and give Flyers GM Danny Briere a call in that process.
