Is Morgan Frost A Victim Of Poor Developmental Rules, Or Just A Bust?

Since turning pro, Frost has struggled mightily at both the AHL(65GP 19G, 29A over 1.5 seasons) and NHL levels. In four seasons with the Flyers, Frost has only scored 10 total goals and 18 total assists. It is worth noting in his defense, in his second season - the 2020/21 pandemic shortened season - in just his second game of the season, Frost suffered a separated shoulder that required surgery to repair and ended his season; which effectively cuts into his developmental time.

However, we're now almost two years removed from that injury, and since returning to the NHL post-recovery, Frost has only managed to score 8 goals in a combined 76 games between 55 games(5 goals) last season and the 21 games(3 goals) so far this season, and has only managed to assist his teammates 13 times for a total of 21 points. For a prospect who was expected to "top out" at top-6 levels, these stats are definitely disappointing.

For years, fans of the NHL have complained about "on the cusp" prospects who are under a certain age being forced to go back to the Junior ranks when it's clear they're too good for that league, but not quite good enough for the NHL yet. Frost could very well be the perfect example of why players under-20 not being eligible for the AHL is a rough rule. I understand why it's in place. The CHL does not want to lose all their players as soon as they're drafted. But junior ranks have exception rules for exceptional players to enter the junior ranks at 15(when the "entry" age for all three CHL leagues is 16), so why hasn't that kind of idea been explored for under-20 players rules that are clearly too good for Junior, but not quite good enough for the NHL?(Not every 1st round draft pick would fall into this category, so depending on the rule, it could work, if only they'd actually explore it.)

In juniors, mainly in his final two junior seasons, Frost put up numbers that were ridiculous, and of course, in turn drove fans expectations for the player sky high. In his age 18 season(2017/18), Frost scored 42G, 70A in 67 games played; in his age 19 season(2018/19), Frost recorded 37G, 72A in just 58 games played. The high expectations were probably quite unfair considering the player was playing in a league he was probably too skilled for which made it "easy" to become a bit complacent, but it's hard for fans to see numbers like this and not get excited when their team struggles to score.

It's been no secret the Flyers have struggled for quite some time to develop players to their highest ceiling, and thus far Frosts offense has not yet translated to the pros, and the longer it takes for Frost to click at the pro level, the more it looks like he will be a "victim" of junior league rules that don't help a player develop properly as well as an organizations poor developmental skills.