Back in 2022-23, Morgan Frost needed one goal with five games to go to get to 20 on the season.
He couldn’t find the back of the net in that final stretch for the Philadelphia Flyers.
Today, Frost is sitting on 17 goals. That leaves him 12 games with the Calgary Flames to get three more and hit 20 for the first time in his NHL career.
With the pace he’s been on recently, a betting man would put his money on Frost getting there this time.
“It would be nice, hopefully I’ll stay hot,” the 26-year-old Frost said Tuesday. “A few years ago I was sitting on 19 with a few games left in the season and couldn’t get it done, so it’s something I’ve never done before and yeah, keep shooting and get open for Matty (Coronato), he’s a passer now.”
Ahead of Tuesday evening’s matchup with the Los Angeles Kings, Frost is leading the Flames in goals, with 17. There are four guys right behind him, with 16, but over the past few weeks Frost has emerged as a persistent threat for his team.
Nobody has scored more since the NHL’s trade deadline on March 6 than Frost — who has four goals in that span — and only Blake Coleman has more points (seven) than the six Frost has recorded.
The line he centres, between 20-year-old Matvei Gridin and 23-year-old Matt Coronato, has looked as dynamic as any trio has for the Flames all year.
“I think it always starts with the centreman, always, so I think Morgan’s playing the game faster and more consistently. With that, I think he’s dragging along his linemates,” said Flames head coach Ryan Huska. “Whether or not they’re considered a younger line, I don’t think that matters, the centreman is the guy who has to make sure he dictates the way the line’s going to play and I think Morgan’s done a better job being consistent over the last little while, playing with pace and making smarter decisions with the puck.”
After the trade deadline, both Huska and Flames GM Craig Conroy talked about the team needing a new batch of players to step up and grab the opportunity that the organization’s moves were presenting. That included Frost, but there were few who expected him to raise his game the way he has.
With Nazem Kadri traded to the Colorado Avalanche on deadline day, it opened up a bigger role for Frost.
He and Coronato are getting the most power-play ice time among Flames forwards and are responding with increased production. With three goals in his last four games, Frost is on as hot a streak as he’s been on since joining the Flames mid-season last year.
It hasn’t just been offence, either.
“For us, it’s being smart and picking our spots and knowing when it’s OK to take a chance and try to make a skilled play and being good without the puck,” Coronato said. “When we’re good defensively and without the puck, the chances will come.”
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No matter how you cut it, it’s been an encouraging stretch for Frost. With Kadri gone, there were legitimate concerns about how the Flames would produce enough offence to stay in games, let alone win them.
It’s been a group effort, but Frost has been leading the way.
“I think he’s taken a step since the trade deadline,” Huska said. “That’s probably something you’d expect from maybe a player who was in someone else’s shadow. Now that he’s out of the shadow it’s probably an opportunity he wants to take advantage of and show that he can be a guy who can help contribute consistently.”