Frost selected in round one

The NHL Entry Draft began on Friday night in Chicago at the United Center and forward Morgan Frost was the first member of the Soo Greyhounds selected.

The Philadelphia Flyers selected Frost with the 27th pick in the opening round, a pick the team acquire minutes earlier from the St. Louis Blues in a trade.

“I’m just really excited to go to Philly,” Frost said in an interview with Sportsnet following the pick.

After a rookie season that saw him score seven goals and 27 points, Frost’s offensive game showed a drastic improvement in year two as he would score 20 goals and 62 points in 67 games in 2016-17. Now it’s a matter of rounding out his game even more following the draft.

“He put a lot of work in in terms of adding some power to his stride,” said Greyhounds General Manager Kyle Raftis prior to the draft. “His skating improved a lot over the summer (heading into last season).”

“Me getting stronger will help advance a lot of the little areas in my game,” Frost said ahead of the draft. “In the bigger picture, I want to be more of a two-way player. I’m still improving my offence but right now I’m more of an offensive player and if I can be more of a two-way player, that will help me more at the next level.”

Raftis also spoke of Frost getting stronger to allow him to round out his defensive game even more.

“He’s always been great at stripping pucks and leveraging his body,” Raftis said. “When you look at a young player like Morgan, he understands the position. He understands how to support his defenceman and he’s great on that side of it.”

The draft continues on Saturday with rounds two through seven. Round two begins at 10 a.m. at the United Center.