Morgan Frost, who’d not been particularly sharp in practice that day, was wearing a scowl around the rink.
Which brought a smile for his boss.
Calgary Flames head coach Ryan Huska interpreted this as another indication that the 26-year-old centre was serious about finding another gear to his game, about taking full advantage of the sort of talent required to be a go-to guy at hockey’s highest level.
Many have pegged Frost as a potential ‘X’ factor for the 2025-26 Flames.
“Last year, when I got to know Morgan, he had a smile on his face, no matter what the situation was like,” Huska explained. “He had a tough practice early in training camp and he was not happy about it, and that’s a little different from what we saw last year from him. So I think he has bumped his expectations of what he wants out of himself this year and to me that was evident after that one practice.
“Maybe that’s a guy maturing. Morgan brings a special skill-set to the lineup and we’ve talked about him continuing to take steps and being able to generate offence for us, but continually working on doing it at a higher pace and more speed. And if a guy is starting to figure out that every day is an important day and I want to make sure I’m practising my best, then to me that’s a great sign.”
The Flames’ season-opening split — smiles in Edmonton, scowls in Vancouver — did little to squash concerns that this squad will once again struggle to score. Two of their four goals so far have been flukes.
But if you’re looking for good signs, for reasons to be optimistic about the offence, look no further than Frost. After leading his crew in pre-season production, Calgary’s second-line centre continued to show hints on the road that a career year is a reasonable, realistic expectation.
Although Frost was officially blanked in Edmonton, he buried a beauty in the shootout, using the ol’ stall tactic before he sizzled the puck just inside the post on Stuart Skinner’s glove side.
He was arguably the Flames’ most effective forward against the Canucks, finally spoiling Thatcher Demko’s shutout bid with a spinning shot through the five-hole.
He has also swiped 69.7 percent of his faceoffs, losing just 10 of 33 through two games. That’s an important stat because if he is dominating on draws, his ice time will only increase.
Frost knows the narrative — that he wasn’t as impactful as anticipated after arriving via trade from the Philadelphia Flyers in late January. With only three goals to show for his 32 down-the-stretch appearances with the 2024-25 Flames, it’s difficult to argue.
He is first to admit that he’s capable of more.
He talked throughout training camp about earning more trust, about striving for more consistency and, yes, about piling up more points.
As he put it matter-of-factly: “I think that’s a way that I can really help the team.”
The Flames certainly need help in that department, especially with their best playmaker (Jonathan Huberdeau) starting the season on injured reserve.
It’s not a coincidence that Huska, when he fiddles with his line combinations, has been slotting one of his most dangerous shooters on the flank with Frost, who skated with Matt Coronato in Edmonton and Yegor Sharangovich in Vancouver.
“I feel like every year I’ve played, I’ve been a bit more of a streaky player,” Frost, now in his seventh pro campaign, told Postmedia during the pre-season. “I mean, you’re not going to play good every game, obviously, but just a little more consistency. Doesn’t need to be that I’m scoring two goals in every game, but just going out there and making sure every game I can make some sort of difference on one side of the puck.
“Even if it’s just getting chances or setting up chances, so that at the end of the game, I feel like I contributed something, even if I didn’t score. I feel like there were some games last season where I wasn’t doing much of either. I don’t like that feeling after a game, where it feels like you didn’t do anything.”
There’s one thing that Frost is doing a little differently this fall.
Asked toward the end of training camp if he had set any individual point targets for the coming campaign, his facial expression was revealing.
“I usually don’t, but I have one in mind right now,” he nodded. “I’m not going to tell you what it is, but I have one, yeah.”
Would you tell us if it would mark a new career-high?
“Of course,” grinned Frost, whose previous best is a 46-point push with the Flyers in 2022-23. “So try to get there.”
That quest continues Saturday afternoon as the Flames play in their third straight home-opener — this one in their own barn. They’re hosting the St. Louis Blues as they start their penultimate season at the Saddledome before the move to Scotia Place.
“You’ve gotta win the one at home,” Frost stressed after Thursday’s loss to the Canucks. “I know the crowd will be into it and all the boys will be fired up for that one.”