Morgan Frost’s latest benching another bad sign for his long-term future with the Flyers

Last November, John Tortorella compared Morgan Frost’s game to a toilet seat swinging up and down. Fast forward a year, and it’s pretty clear which direction Tortorella now believes the Flyers’ 24-year-old center is swinging.

Frost was benched again Tuesday night for the Flyers’ 2-1 loss to the previously winless and historically bad San Jose Sharks, marking the seventh time in 13 games that he has watched from the press box. He has zero points in six games this season.

» READ MORE: Flyers become first victim of the season for the Sharks in 2-1 loss

While Frost’s fall from grace can hardly be called a shock — The Inquirer wrote multiple times this summer that Tortorella “doesn’t seem fully convinced” by Frost — the quickness and extent of the banishment certainly is alarming.

First, Frost led the Flyers in scoring over the second half of last season, tallying 40 points over the final 54 games — a 0.74-point-per-game pace — and posting career highs in goals (19), assists (27), and points (46). Frost was a healthy scratch early last season as well, for his homecoming game in Toronto no less, but the young center rebounded and played in 81 other games, almost exclusively as a top-two center.

In September, after a lengthy negotiating process, the Flyers inked Frost, a restricted free agent, to a two-year, $4.2 million contract extension ($2.1 million average annual value). Although it was a bridge deal and not a long-term commitment from the Flyers, the contract represented a raise from $800,000 to $2.1 million and more security for Frost than his previous one-year deal. New general manager Danny Brière, who values the player and has served as a mentor (Frost wears No. 48 for Brière), also name-checked Frost on multiple occasions this offseason when referencing the team’s core.

Player development is “something we’re going to gauge along the way,” Brière said in September. “We had that last year. Guys like Noah Cates and Morgan Frost and Owen Tippett, they were all able to thrive and get better.”

So what is going on with Frost and why is he not playing? Here’s a rundown of his relationship with Tortorella and how that could impact the 2017 first-rounder’s future in Philadelphia.

» READ MORE: Morgan Frost’s bridge deal is indicative of where both the player and the Flyers are at the moment

If we have learned anything over Tortorella’s 20-plus-year career, he has his favorites and punching bags. But with Tortorella, the latter category can be especially harsh and the doghouse harder to climb out of. Think Brandon Dubinsky in New York, Anthony Duclair and Pierre-Luc Dubois in Columbus, and countless others along the way. Frost seems to be the latest player who doesn’t mesh with the demanding bench boss.

Tortorella’s main problem with Frost is his work away from the puck. He has repeatedly said that Frost needs to impact the game in more ways than just scoring. When the streaky Frost isn’t consistently producing points, the perceived weaknesses in his game become easier for Tortorella to point out.

“I just need to see more out of [Frost] as far as playmaking because he does not do enough for us on the other side of the puck,” Tortorella said before benching Frost last November.

But Frost seemed to turn a corner with his head coach over the second half of last season, Tortorella even crediting him for making strides in his 200-foot game.

“We know he has skill,” Tortorella said in March. “We need to keep on seeing the skill. But for a coach to put a player on the ice that he’s still not sure of, that other stuff has to be sound. And I think he’s really improved there.”

That progress didn’t prevent Tortorella from exercising a quick hook with Frost after just two games this season.

“It [stinks], obviously you don’t want to be standing on the bench for the introductions,” Frost said after being benched for the home opener against Vancouver. “It’s way too early in the year for me to let it bother me too much. When I start feeling that way, even off the ice, I think that affects my game on the ice. I’m just going to try to stay positive and keep cheering the boys on with a smile on my face.”

Frost’s benching coincided with five straight strong outings by the Flyers, including three wins and an overtime loss, but Tortorella acknowledged he needed to find a way to get Frost back in the lineup. He reinserted Frost on Oct. 30 against Carolina, and the center played four consecutive games before the defeat Tuesday in San Jose.

Tortorella’s comments after Tuesday’s game probably were the most damning to date. When asked if it was tough to take Frost out of the lineup, Tortorella responded, “No.”

Even before the recent benchings, Frost entered the season as probably the most polarizing Flyer among fans and the media.

While Frost fits the age, high-end skill, and pedigree profile the Flyers are looking for as they embark on their rebuild, his inconsistency before last year’s second half was reason enough to refrain from writing his name in pen as part of the Flyers’ long-term nucleus. That’s not to say Frost couldn’t be a part of that future, but he needed to prove it again first.

If anyone could have benefited from a quick start it was Frost, but while he has been held off the score sheet to date, it hasn’t been all bad, or at least nearly as bad as Tortorella has portrayed, from the young center.

Coming out of the draft, Frost’s calling cards were his puck handling, playmaking, and hockey IQ. He is an offensive flair player, and at this point in his career, his real value only comes from playing him in a top-six role and seeing what he can produce there. Last year, there were positive signs that he might grow into that role at the NHL level, as Frost played at a 61-point pace from Dec. 11 on and formed noticeable chemistry with 27-goal man Tippett.

» READ MORE: ‘A New Era of Orange’ for the Flyers begins in earnest Thursday. Will things be different this time?

The decision to scratch Frost, who was the team’s fourth-leading scorer last year and led the team in scoring in the preseason, after two games consequently seems a dubious one by Tortorella, even more so given the Flyers’ public commitment to rebuilding and developing. Rather, the Flyers should be using this season to evaluate players they might be unsure of, such as Frost, so that they have as clear a picture as possible about who should be part of the long-term puzzle.

Benching Frost makes even less sense when fourth-liners like Nic Deslauriers (32) and Garnet Hathaway (31) who aren’t here for the long haul are in the lineup every night. No, Frost doesn’t make sense on the fourth line, but the Flyers have other players they could shift down (see Scott Laughton) to accommodate Frost in the short term.

That word “accommodate” might underline the problem. Tortorella has preached that he wants his players to “earn” everything and that there is a standard each player is expected to meet. Frost is far from a perfect player; while he flashes moments of terrific skill and playmaking, he also fades for stretches and is rather one-dimensional. But are two spells and six total games a proper sample size to fully evaluate a player? And does the standard seem to be a bit higher for Frost compared to be some of his peers?

The answer to the first question is a resounding no, as two games, which weren’t glaringly poor by any measure, are unequivocally not enough to go on. In terms of the standard? Points aside, Frost was largely a positive in his second four-game stint in terms of puck possession and chance creation.

Frost ranked tied for fifth among Flyers in all-situation scoring chances created during that spell (nine) and tied for third in high-danger scoring chances created (six), according to Natural Stat Trick. His linemate, Tyson Foerster, tied for the Flyers’ most five-on-five high-danger scoring chances during that time (six), while the Flyers dominated the shot attempts (58.5%), and expected goals for percentage (63.8%) with Frost on the ice. Those percentages were good enough for second and third, respectively, among Flyers forwards over those four games, and dwarfed those of Tippett, Cates, and Cam Atkinson.

Ultimately, skill players like Frost are judged on goals and assists, and, at some point, he needs to produce consistently. But neither the eye test nor the advanced offensive metrics point to Frost being a liability when on the ice. With some puck luck and better finishing from his teammates, he is much closer to being a difference-maker.

Those things tend to even out over 82 games, so pulling an offense-generator like Frost out of the lineup ahead of the matchup with lowly San Jose seemed rather counterproductive on the surface. It also simply could have been another symbolic boot in the behind to Frost that he needs to up his standard and all-around game if he wants to play. But if Tortorella and the Flyers’ goal was to get Frost back on track and help him gain some confidence, Tuesday’s contest against a team that had surrendered 10 goals in back-to-back games would have seemed the perfect opportunity.

To Frost’s credit, he has taken the high road and been a good soldier publicly, reiterating recently that he loves Philadelphia and wants to fight for his place here. But his coach’s mind seems made up at this point, which leaves many to wonder if the Flyers will start looking to trade the former first-round pick. The problem with that is Tortorella and the Flyers aren’t helping Frost’s trade value — which likely was lukewarm at best already — by benching him. For those reasons, the team is probably best trying to still make it work with Frost, as it is unlikely to recoup a player with his upside in return at this juncture.

We’ll see if Frost is back in the lineup Friday against Anaheim, and if so, whether he does enough to stay there, but at the moment, the long-term future for Frost in Philly seems murky.