Morgan Frost trying to lift and eat his way to NHL weight

Dave Isaac | The Courier-Post

VOORHEES — Since the end of his season, Morgan Frost has gained nine pounds. His last game was May 13.

The Flyers’ first-round pick from 2017 knows that the biggest knock against him is his size and even on the team’s development camp roster he’s listed at 172 pounds. These days, he says, it’s more like 184, although it’s a little different because he’s not playing or skating every day.

“Just trying to eat as often as you can, even if it’s just little small meals,” he said. “Build it up instead of your normal breakfast, lunch, dinner. I don’t know what came over me, but all of a sudden I have a bigger appetite lately.

“It’s just so different when you’re skating every day (and you burn it off). Going into last season I was closer to 180 so I think it’s my normal weight, but when you’re on the ice and working out every day you’re gonna lose weight so I was playing at around 174, 175.”

Weight isn’t the only thing keeping Frost out of the NHL, but it’s on the short list. He had a phenomenal season after the Flyers selected him last season. The Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds were easily the best team in the Ontario Hockey League with a 55-7-3 record. Frost had 42 goals and 112 points.

"I think I got a little bit better in the defensive zone for sure," he said. "I think a lot of it was just getting a better feel for the game, being more confident. I think that happens. This year I got put in every situation. I played penalty kill, power play, last minute of the game, took key faceoffs. That experience is vital and I think it makes you a much better player. I got that opportunity this year and even last summer, going through development camp and main camp, I think all that you get more confident and it all makes you a better player."

Part of why he had so many points is that he got a bigger role on the team for a month when linemate Boris Katchouk and defenseman Conor Timmins were selected for Canada’s World Junior team. Frost’s offense didn’t stop. In fact, it picked up.

“To be totally honest with you it wasn’t too much of a disappointment for me,” he said. “I wasn’t thinking to myself, ‘Oh, I should be on this team.’ I knew there was maybe a little bit of a chance, but I guess just build on that and play pissed off but it wasn’t in my head too much. It wasn’t like, ‘I need to show these guys.’ I want to keep playing better so that I get a look for next year.”

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The real goal, of course, is to be in the NHL and if that’s the case then the Flyers probably wouldn’t let him go play in the tournament just in case he gets hurt.

Frost knows he’s a longshot, but, “I think my opinion’s probably different than other people’s. I want to make the team. I think if I work my hardest it’s realistic.”

If he can keep the weight on, it should help him in battles down low and along the boards. That’s certainly something that Nolan Patrick attested to as a 19-year-old in the NHL last season. Frost just turned 19 and is hoping that he can make it three years in a row the Flyers start the year with a teenager on the roster.

“They can’t get fully developed, physically, in one summer,” Flyers development coach Kjell Samuelsson said. “That’s impossible. But they believe that, so they go after it and then they realize when the next season starts, ‘Well, this is gonna take a lot of time.’”

In his second summer with the Flyers, Frost’s appetite is at an all-time high to pack the pounds on.

Sandström’s lost year

Online translations blurred some of the important words enough to distort the story. Goalie Felix Sandström didn’t have an abdominal injury. It was a stomach illness that claimed two months of last season and, he said, it was connected to his bout of mononucleosis a couple years ago.

“I wouldn’t say it was an injury. It was in the throat and in the stomach,” he said. “It’s hard to translate it into English. It went away with some time and some rest and some medicine and all that stuff.”

Sandström was with Brynäs IF of the Swedish Hockey League and likely would have had a starting job if he hadn’t missed time. He had a hard time keeping food down after games and practices so the decision was made to keep him off the ice.

He’s fine now, he says, and will stay in Sweden one more year. He signed his entry-level contract with the Flyers back in March, but only has an out in his Swedish contract if he makes the NHL. So he will go back and play one more season, this time for HV71.

This works well for the Flyers, who are already crowded between the pipes without him. They have Brian Elliott and Michal Neuvirth with one year left on their contracts. The team sent qualifying offers to Alex Lyon and Anthony Stolarz on Monday and Carter Hart will turn pro. Two of those three figure to be with the Phantoms. The plan was initially for Sandström to come over to North America this season, but that was before missing so much time in November and December.

“Trying to not think about it that much,” he said of the hindsight. “What happened, happened. Now I’m looking forward, that’s it.”

Injury report

Forward Connor Bunnaman is still a couple weeks away from skating. He had bunionette surgery on both feet four weeks ago but will be ready for training camp in September. … Winger Wade Allison has begun skating after having surgery on his right knee after an injury in January but isn’t far enough along to compete in drills. He will return to Western Michigan University for his junior season in the fall. … Ohio State forward Tanner Laczynski also wasn’t on the ice due to an undisclosed injury. Same goes for Czech forward David Kase, who did not attend the camp.

Dave Isaac; @davegisaac; 856-486-2479; disaac@gannett.com

DEVELOPMENT CAMP

At Flyers Skate Zone in Voorhees

Friday: 8 a.m. — 7 p.m.

Saturday: 8 a.m. — 7:30 p.m.

Sunday: 9:10 a.m. — 7 p.m.

Monday: 1 — 3 p.m. (3-on-3 tournament)