Turn Of Events In Flames Center Morgan Frost's Future On Trade Market

Morgan Frost's name has been squarely on the rumor mill since the season began, as the Calgary Flames are full-on into their rebuild. As a pending unrestricted free agent center, Frost has drawn consistent speculation. 

We're hearing now from insider Pierre LeBrun that general manager Craig Conroy opened preliminary contract extension talks with Frost's agent, Darren Ferris this week. But, he says, it still comes down to weighing the greater-than-expected cost of signing him long-term against trading Frost to maximize their return in draft picks and prospects.

There’s some important work still ahead for general manager Craig Conroy, notably Morgan Frost, their pending unrestricted free-agent centre. He’s 27 years old, absolutely still fits in terms of his age and what the Flames are building out there. Conroy said to me for a piece I wrote in The Athletic on Monday that obviously they’d like to talk contract on Frost but they also have to figure out in this new world of rising salaries - what’s it going to cost, exactly, to extend Frost? 

(They) had an initial preliminary discussion on Monday to get the ball rolling on this subject. Ferris loves to bring his clients to market, but in this particular case, there is mutual interest to try to get an extension done at some point this year.

The Flames have plenty of room to do so, with $14.3 million of cap room currently, while projecting to have over $43 million in space next summer. 

Frost has been a revelation in his season and a half with the Flames since being acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers in 2025. Last year, his first full season with Calgary, he recorded a career-high 22 goals in 82 games. He's off to a decent start this campaign with three goals and seven points in 11 games. 

He's a former first-round pick, 27th overall, in the 2017 NHL Draft.