Frost, Farabee getting comfortable as Flames

Calgary Flames sophomore Matt Coronato is pulling double duty these days. Not only is the winger the club’s third-leading scorer with 30 points in 49 games, he’s also become a chauffeur for his newest teammates.

Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee, acquired last week in a deal with Philadelphia for Andrei Kuzmenko, Jakob Pelletier, and draft picks, both credited the 22-year-old for shuttling them around town early in their Flames’ careers.

“He’s been great, driving us around,” Frost said after an off-ice workout on Friday morning at the Saddledome.

Frost was hesitant, however, to give Coronato a full five-star rating.

“He’s been on time and he’s been doing a good job, for sure,” he said. “We appreciate it a lot…we’ll go 4.8 [stars], just because we can’t give him a five-star.”

Frost said that he’s been hanging out at the rink more than he normally would have, just to get to know his new teammates.

“I’ve been taking my time getting out of the rink when we’re done, hanging out in the lounge and stuff like that,” he said. “Just trying to talk to guys.”

He’s also getting used to an increase in attention.

“[I’ve] been doing a fair bit of media, which is a little different,” Frost said. “You can see the passion from the fans and everyone around the rink.”

Both say that they haven’t had to change much of their approach on the ice.

John Tortorella’s system with the Flyers is similar to Ryan Huska’s in Calgary. The two clubs forecheck hard, play more north-south than east-west, and demand their forwards are committed at both ends of the rink.

“Both systems really, when we have the puck, it’s get going north and try to get behind their D,” Farabee said.

One of those subtle differences is the centre’s role in the defensive zone. While Tortorella wanted more structure from his pivots, under Huska, that centre improvises more.

“I would say it’s a little bit more freelance, kind of thing [in Calgary],” Frost said. “It’s basically the same. There’s a little bit of stuff where you’ve got to be in a slightly different spot, but it’s fairly similar.”

The two clubs also have different approaches in how they enter the offensive zone.

“In Philly, it’s a little more dumping and chasing,” Farabee said. “At the same time, we want to play behind their D here and try to turn over pucks as best we can.”

Frost, in particular, gives the Flames a skill set they previously lacked. Calgary doesn’t have many forwards who are comfortable bringing the puck into the offensive zone on their own. More often than not, they drop it to a winger or dump it in. Connor Zary and Nazem Kadri are the two who prefer controlled zone entries.

Frost brings that dimension to the group.

“We want him to do it,” Huska said. “The challenge we’ve given him now is to do it with more pace. We want to see him play faster with the puck. I think if he’s able to do that [and] continue to add to that part of his game, he’s going to be even more dangerous and dynamic when he hits the offensive blueline.”

Frost is more of a playmaker than shooter, but Huska feels that by playing faster, he can add another layer to his game.

“Speed is hard to defend,” Huska. “You’re a shot threat like we saw in Seattle [when Frost scored his first goal as a Flame]…he can also distribute. It’s a more dangerous player when you’re learning how to do it with more pace with the puck.”

The franchise hopes Farabee and Frost will be key contributors in the present and future.

Farabee, 24, is signed through the 2027-28 campaign while Frost, 25, is a restricted free agent this summer. Neither had visited Calgary as tourists before the deal, but both are already making plans to come back for the summer.

“[Former Flyers teammate] Travis Konecny had been inviting me to come to the Stampede,” Frost said. “I never ended up pulling the trigger…hopefully when the summer time comes around, I’ll be back for that.”

Frost and Farabee both spoke how hectic their lives have been in over the last eight days. They’ve changed teams, countries, residences, rinks, and are getting to know dozens of new colleagues.

They’ve already played four games in their new colours but it feels like much longer.

“It feels like it’s been long,” Frost said, with a laugh. “It feels like it’s kind of been both. You saying that it’s been a week, it also feels like it was three days ago…it feels like we’ve already been here for two-and-a-half weeks.

“There’s a lot going on in our heads.”