Rookie Frost thrust into spotlight
It was one thing to have rookie Morgan Frost make the Flyers’ season-opening roster, albeit as a spare forward, but quite another to toss him on the top line in his first game action.
But that was the decision made by coach Alain Vigneault on Sunday when he had Frost practicing at center between Travis Konecny and Oskar Lindblom in the Skate Zone in Voorhees, New Jersey.
Frost’s services were required after No. 1 center Sean Couturier was hurt in Friday night’s 5-2 win over Pittsburgh. During a collision with the Penguins’ Jared McCann, Couturier suffered a “constochondrial ( joint) separation” (rib cage injury) and will be out of action approximately two weeks.
Frost will get his big chance Monday night when the Flyers host the Buffalo Sabres at the Wells Fargo Center.
During a media Zoom call Sunday morning, Vigneault said he thought about shuffling his lines but ended up keeping them together and simply inserting Frost in Couturier’s spot.
That said, it’s clear Frost has impressed Vigneault enough to earn that duty, which also might very well include time on the Flyers’ top power-play unit.
“With Morgan, I think he deserves this opportunity, to play with TK and Oskar,” Vigneault said. “What went into our decision also, we feel like the other lines are building some chemistry. Morgan is considered to be a skilled offensive player, [so] well, I might as put him in that role with two pretty good players. He’s going to get an opportunity tomorrow to play a good game for us and I’m sure he’s going to put his best foot forward.”
The draft rights to Frost came via a trade with St. Louis, which saw Brayden Schenn head west to the Blues. The Flyers took Frost with the 27th overall pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.
Last year he was brought up from the Phantoms during the season and started off strong, scoring goals in his first two NHL games. Then he proceeded to score exactly zero in his next 16 games before he was returned to the Phantoms.
That had to be a bit of a letdown but he didn’t dwell on it or let it affect his play. He wound up with 13 goals/29 points in 41 games at Allen
thing for us to do to get where we want to go and play a style on offense that I think is going to be important for us to play in a lot of different ways.”
Franklin believes in Yurcich’s concepts — including the spread and extensive use of RPOs — to make the team more explosive, help them protect the football better and ultimately put more points on the board. These are things Franklin believes Penn State needs to be competitive and what the team, frankly, had been doing more of before Ciarrocca was installed.
“The emphasis on explosive plays and emphasis on [fewer] turnovers, and an emphasis on scoring points — they’re the three most important things that you have to do on offense,” Franklin said. “And specifically in current college football, the way this thing is trending, there’s going to be games where you’re going to have to score 40 points. You know, 42-41 or 42-40 or whatever it may be. And those things are a premium now probably more than ever. So you know that’s really the emphasis and, and those statistics and those things make sure that aligns with how we want to play and the exciting brand of football we want to play on offense.”
Penn State scored just 25 points against Ohio State, 19 against Maryland, 23 against Nebraska and 21 against Iowa — all losses that came after opening the season with a devastating 36-35 loss to Indiana in overtime.
Defense measured differently
In this era of football, the best defense can be a good offense, Franklin subtly suggested. Nevertheless, he admitted he needs more turnovers, fewer explosive plays allowed and better red-zone efficiency from his defense.
But even with all of that, sometimes it’s going to take 40-plus points to win. That’s a plateau Penn State reached just once in 2020.
“You know, the evolution of offensive football and what we would consider good defense has changed dramatically,” Franklin said. “So it will be interesting to see how this thing continues to evolve.”
Roster turnover
As more and more players enter the NCAA’s transfer portal each year, the process of stocking college football rosters is starting to resemble the way NFL teams approach free agency.
“College football has changed dramatically over the last five years,” Franklin said, “and the reality is, whether you like it, whether you agree with it, whether it’s what you’re used to or not, you have to embrace it. You have to embrace it, you have to move forward. You have to understand what the current model is and you’ve got to study it in detail and you’ve got to evolve.
“And that’s kind of where we’re at. This is college football. It’s not going to go back to the way it was. It’s not.”
Excited about Jahan Dotson
Franklin couldn’t be more pleased that leading wide receiver Jahan Dotson, the former Nazareth star, chose to come back for his senior season instead of cashing in on a breakout season in which he finished with team highs in catches (52), yards (884) and TD receptions (8) to go with eight punt returns for a 24.6 average.
“I feel like I’ve got a really good relationship with Jahan and with his mom and dad,” Franklin said, “and we had some very direct, honest, transparent conversations with just the three of us that they wanted to have. And I thought that went well.
“At the end of the day, I’m going to support whatever decisions these guys make. I want to make sure that they make an educated decision and have as much information to be able to do that. But having Jahan back, I think, is really important for us and it gives us a really good building block.”
Contingency plans
Whatever the NCAA and/or the state of Pennsylvania decides about the viability of spring football, Penn State will adjust.
For now, Franklin is hoping and planning for it to be full speed ahead. If not, there’s a plan for that too.
“Nobody has really come out and said it either way,” Franklin said. “And I guess what I’m saying is, what 2020 has taught me and I think has taught us all is that you’re going to have to be prepared for what comes, especially when you’re dealing with a pandemic.
“I think obviously after going through a season. It’s easier to say that we can pull off a spring ball and do it the right way after already being through a season. But no one has said anything either way.”
So he’s learned not to get his hopes up. “We’re moving ahead and prepared and planning on doing it all,” Franklin added. “... This has taught me a valuable lesson that we’re going to have to be prepared for whatever comes and we’re going to have to be flexible.”