Bruins’ Trent Frederic a ‘pain in the ass’ contenders crave at Trade Deadline

Credit: Jan 7, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins center Trent Frederic (11) fights with Edmonton Oilers right wing Corey Perry (90) during the second period at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images

We’re just over one week from the NHL’s March 7 trade deadline and we’ve got you covered at Daily Faceoff with at least one trade-focused story every day until Deadline Day.

Today we continue our player profile series with Boston Bruins center Trent Frederic, who is the No. 19 ranked player on our Trade Targets boar d. Bruins GM Don Sweeney didn’t exactly wave the white flag on this season, but acknowledged his team’s shortcomings and left the door open to significant roster changes – which would likely include shipping out a pending free agent in Frederic. The Bruins and Frederic’s camp have not made progress on a contract extension.

2025 Trade Deadline Countdown: 10 Days

TRENT FREDERIC
Center, Boston Bruins
Shoots: Left
Age: 27
Height: 6-foot-3 | Weight: 221 lbs
Cap Hit: $2.3 million
Term: Pending UFA
2024-25 Stats: 56 GP, 8 G, 7 A, 15 Pts, 13:59 TOI
Career Stats: 5th season (all Boston), 336 GP, 55 G, 54 A, 99 Pts
Best Year: 2023-24, 82 GP, 18 G, 22 A, 40 Pts, plus-9, 13:45 TOI
Playoffs: 3 appearances, zero Stanley Cups, 1 round won, 22 GP, 3 G, 2 A, 5 Pts

Archetype and Ideal Role

Net-Front Scorer, 3rd Line Center

Frederic brings optionality to a lineup with his ability to play both center and wing. He is well-suited as a third line center, but could be bumped down to the fourth, or could be elevated to a second line winger role in a pinch. The Bruins do not use Frederic much on either special teams unit.

Scouting Report

The best quality in Frederic’s arsenal – and the calling card that will make teams pick up the phone over the next 10 days – is that he can be a true pain in the ass to play against. His physicality is always on display. Frederic has racked up 152 hits this season, which is 20th among all forwards. He was 22nd last year in hits with 204.

In the offensive zone, Frederic willfully plants himself in front of the net and uses his 6-foot-3 frame to take away the goalie’s eyes and utilize his better than average puck deflection skills. His six goals from the high-danger area ranks in the 67th percentile in the league, a number that in theory would rank much higher per 60 minutes when considering his ice time. His shooting percentage from that high-danger area ranks in the 77th percentile, according to NHL EDGE. In the playoffs, when teams turn to meat-and-potato tactics, that skillset is valuable for clubs that shift to a low-to-high formula and plan to pound pucks on net.

Frederic underhandles pucks to score, which is a huge benefit. On six of his eight goals this season, he stickhandled exactly zero times to get the puck across the goal line. He has scored off the rush, with one-timers in lower slot plays and deflections.

Frederic’s physical play allows him to recover pucks in the offensive zone for his teammates, where he ranks in the top five among Bruins’ forwards in that area. Puck recovery allows for play continuity and sustained offensive zone time and pressure. While he won’t blow you away with max speed, Frederic is in the 76th percentile in 18-20 mph speed bursts, and combining that with his physicality is enough to force defensemen to panic or mishandle a puck.

Buyer Beware

Frederic’s goal scoring is down significantly from last season, when he hit career highs in goals (18) and points (40) – which also could be a solid explanation for why Frederic and the Bruins have arrived at a contract stalemate. Based on last season’s numbers, he would be due a significant raise from his current $2.3 million, which is a place the Bruins haven’t been willing to go.

Part of that, though, should be chalked up to Boston’s overall offense. The Bruins are scoring 2.7 goals per game, a sizable drop from the 3.2 they netted last year, which has impacted almost everyone’s productivity in a disappointing year.

There are fair questions to ask about Frederic’s identity as a player. Is he actually a center? Is he better suited as a winger? While he is consistent in his physicality, he isn’t as consistent in his pestilence – some games he is going toe-to-toe with Tom Wilson, other games he can be rather quiet.

Additionally, Frederic has consistently struggled in the faceoff dot. His career average is 44.3 percent on a career of more than 800 draws, and he has been absolutely victimized in the playoffs at 36.7 percent. On the whole, Frederic was held off the board in two separate first-round playoff losses, then scored three even-strength goals in their seven-game series win over Toronto in 2024.

Potential Suitors

Washington Capitals: The Caps are looking for a third line center and Frederic could be united with his longtime foe in Wilson, which would make for some interesting theater. Plus, these teams did complete some other recent deadline acquisitions.
New Jersey Devils: It’s certainly a question as to whether Frederic is an upgrade over Erik Haula. But for a Devils team that isn’t overly physical, Frederic would add size and inject a new element.
Toronto Maple Leafs: Frederic did score three goals against the Leafs in that seven-game series last spring, the first of GM Brad Treliving’s tenure. He’d appreciate Frederic’s physicality, for sure.
Minnesota Wild: The Wild are always in the market for some center depth. Would they be a candidate to re-sign Frederic and turn him into a non-rental acquisition?
Edmonton Oilers: This isn’t a perfect fit, because in reality Edmonton could use a right-shooting, fourth line center. But that size and element is what they might be seeking. So impossible to completely rule it out.
Vancouver Canucks: On a team where center depth has eroded this season, Frederic could make sense for a playoff push in Vancouver.

Comparable Trade Returns

March 1, 2023
To Colorado: Lars Eller
To Washington: 2025 2nd Round Pick

Feb. 23, 2023
To Boston: Dmitry Orlov, Garnet Hathaway
To Washington: 2023 1st Round Pick, 2025 2nd Round Pick, 2024 3rd Round Pick, Craig Smith (Capitals retained 50%)
To Minnesota: 2023 5th Round Pick (Wild retained 50%)

Let’s start with the latter deal. If we isolate the Hathaway portion, it lines up like the 1st was for Orlov, the 2nd was for Hathaway, and the third, fifth and Craig Smith were to make the dollars work. Hathaway for a 2nd makes sense, and the Bruins acquiring him could be commensurate to what Frederic would provide a contender – even though there is the winger/center difference.

Which ties nicely to another deal involving Washington, a pretty solid comparable. Eller and Frederic have stylistic differences, for sure, but Eller at that point was also a third line center and the return accurately represents today’s market conditions on what the Bruins could reasonably expect to land for Frederic.

Summary

Frederic is not a perfect player by any means, but he can provide energy and physicality to a contending team in need of a shot in the arm. He’s ready to drag your team into the fight – quite literally – on most nights. There’s always room for players of Frederic’s skillset on a playoff roster, brought in at a price point in both acquisition cost and cap hit that won’t leave a scar.

Daily Faceoff analyst Jon Goyens contributed to this report. Find him on Twitter: @gourmet_hockey

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