Surprise, surprise: Morgan Frost, Cam York remain with Phantoms as Flyers prepare to play Detroit

In a bit of a surprise, center Morgan Frost and defenseman Cam York remained with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Tuesday and it appears they won’t play for the Philadelphia Flyers in Wednesday’s game against visiting Detroit.

York (three points, minus-4 in 13 games) and Frost (seven points, minus-7 in 26 games) are among the Flyers’ best prospects. They were playing for Philly before the All-Star break, and both had been in the lineup during the last 13 games for the Flyers. Frost had played in the last 16 games.

Instead, the promising young players will be in the lineup Wednesday for the AHL’s Phantoms against visiting Belleville. (Lately, York, who is lefthanded, had been playing the right side for the Flyers.)

Flyers interim coach Mike Yeo said the fact that York and Frost remained with the Phantoms is not because the organization is disappointed with their development.

“Not whatsoever,” he said. “Obviously their development is still first and foremost. They play a game tonight (in Allentown). Obviously, the experience of being up here and playing with us was invaluable for them. I think we’ve seen improvement in both of their games.”

Mike Yeo on not recalling @_morganfrost_10 or @camyork2 #Flyers pic.twitter.com/5TROEyBDkL

— Sam Carchidi (@BroadStBull) February 8, 2022

He said both players will get more prominent roles with the Phantoms, and added he wasn’t sure how long they would stay with the AHL team.

“Frosty will have a chance to play in every situation down there, and there will be increased ice time for Yorky,” Yeo said. “He’ll probably end up playing close to 30 minutes a game down there — penalty kill, power play, every situation.”

Yeo said the organization “was very happy with those what those guys have done, and we want to keep pushing them to find that next level. That’s just part of the process.”

#Flyers players bang sticks and chant MVP as ⁦@28CGiroux⁩ leads exercises. Great moment in Voorhees. pic.twitter.com/mIa4G0dTyX

— Sam Carchidi (@BroadStBull) February 8, 2022

As expected, Derick Brassard took part in practice in Voorhees on Tuesday, a sign he will center the third line, which includes wingers Gerry Mayhew and Max Willman, against the Red Wings. Brassard has missed the last 11 games with a hip injury, and has been sidelined for 26 games overall this season.

“It’s been a long two months, I came back too quick (two) times,” said Brassard, who skated two times during the All-Star break to stay in shape. “It’s pretty tough for us as a team to lose 10 games in a row two times, and not being able to help my teammates. I think that was the hardest part.”

Brassard, 34, also plays left wing, but he will take Frost’s spot at center. He said he felt good, but that it will take him a a few games to get his conditioning level up to speed. “The only way to get that back is to start playing again,” Yeo said. “It’ll be nice to see him back in action.”

Left winger Isaac Ratcliffe was recalled from the Phantoms and will play on the fourth line Wednesday.  He has played in the last two games for the Flyers.

“He’s given us a glimpse of what you can hopefully see from him — his size (6-6, 225), and he’s got good hands and has the ability to make plays in the offensive zone,” Yeo said.

At practice, journeyman Nick Seeler replaced York on the third pair with Keith Yandle.

Breakaways

Carter Hart, who has a 2.80 GAA and .915 save percentage, will start against the Red Wings. … Yeo said there was no indication that center Sean Couturier or defenseman Ryan Ellis would soon return from injuries. … Injured Patrick Brown is not quite ready to return to practice. … Rasmus Ristolainen and Keith Yandle were on one of the power-play units at practice. Ristolainen received a lot of PP time with Buffalo, and Yeo wants to see what he can do on the unit.