The Calgary Flames 2025-26 roster is nearly complete, with just one final cut to go. At both forward and defence, the teams opening night lines are starting to take shape. After a handful of pre-season games and training camp scrimmages, one player has stood out among the rest. Morgan Frost.

The young centre who was acquired last season in a mid-season trade from the Flyers has been spectacular in preseason, a great sign for a player in need of a bounce back year. If Frost can continue to carry his success into the season, it will go a long ways in determining how the Flames season goes.

A dominate September

As mentioned, Frost has been incredible in the pre-season. While the games aren’t as important, you can’t ignore just how good Frost has looked every time he steps on the ice. In fact he’s been arguably the best player in pre-season across the entire NHL.

PlayerPointsMorgan Frost7Hendrix Lapierre7Josh Norris7Tage Thompson7Quinn Hughes6

Frost is currently tied atop the NHL scoring in preseason. It’s not like there aren’t any notable players at the top either. Frost is sitting atop the leaderboard with elite players like Tage Thompson and Quinn Hughes. Now that’s now to say Frost is on the same level as those guys, but it just goes to show how good he’s been in preseason. He’s clearly made it a goal to bounce back from last years porous season, and he’s done just that so far in the warmup to the real thing.

Here’s where Frost ranks among Flames forwards with at least 50 minutes played in preseason. All numbers are 5v5SVA courtesy of naturalstattrick.com.

StatMorgan FrostTeam RankCF%53.531stxGF%54.433rdHDCF%53.225th5v5 Points51stCF/6057.513rdCA/6049.931st

Frost has been around everything in the preseason, leading the team in 5v5 points with five. The next closest Flame is Matvei Gridin who has three. Frost is also pacing the Flames in CF%, and CA/60. In other words he’s been getting it done at both ends of the ice.

Again, these numbers should be taken with a grain of salt because it is just preseason, but Frost has been legitimately great in the seven games he’s played. While others have fallen into the background, he has stood out in a good way almost every shift he’s played thus far.

A lack of centre depth

It’s no secret the Flames have a weak pipeline down the middle of the ice. As it stands right now, the team will likely be starting the season with Nazem Kadri, Morgan Frost, Mikael Backlund, and Justin Kirkland down the middle. While that’s not a terrible group, it’s certainly not a strong one. Backlund is on the wrong side of 30 and has shown serious signs of slowing down, while Kirkland is likely in the AHL on any contending roster. While Kadri is still a real solid top-six pivot, he’s not a number one guy on any serious playoff team and is always entering his mid to late 30’s. Enter Morgan Frost.

I’d argue no centre on the roster has more potential for future success than Frost. While the likes of Kadri, Backlund and Kirkland are all veteran players who are nearing the end of their prime window or already out of it, Frost is still just 26 years old and entering what should be his prime years in the NHL. He’s the one piece in this group that you can look at and see room for improvement in the future.

If Frost can continue to carry his pre-season success into the season and look the part of a legitimate second line centre in the NHL, that will do wonders for this teams playoff hopes both this season and in the future.

A good sign for things to come

Make no mistake, Frost is one of the Flames most important players coming into the 2025-26 season. Backlund and Kadri can only carry the centre group for so long as they enter their late 30’s, and someone needs to step up. With no one else in the wings and Rory Kerins back in the AHL, the opportunity is wide open for Frost to establish himself as an integral part of the Flames roster in 2025-26.

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