Trent Frederic to make Oilers debut vs. Kings

Edmonton Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch announced that center Trent Frederic is set to make his debut with the team on Saturday against the Los Angeles Kings.

Frederic hasn’t played since February 25th due to a lower-body injury that he sustained while with the Boston Bruins. The Oilers acquired Frederic from the Bruins a week later as one of their additions to the team before the trade deadline, and he has been working his way back to the lineup ever since.

Based on the lines run during Friday’s practice, Frederic is set to make his Oilers’ debut in the top six on a line alongside Adam Henrique and Zach Hyman. It’s possible that the team is anticipating using Frederic in a top six role, but with injuries to both Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl for Saturday’s game, it’s likely that he’s just there out of necessity while the Oilers’ two superstars heal up.

Frederic has seen a significant step back in production this season, as he has just 8 goals and 7 assists for 15 points in 57 games with the Bruins before the injury. This comes after a career year that saw him score 18 goals and 40 points in 2023-24, and even in 2022-23, he had 17 goals and 31 points, so it’s a clear drop in offense. The Oilers will hope that playing on a much better team will allow him to flourish offensively again.

Frederic is in the final year of a two-year contract with a $2.3 million cap hit, and is set to be an unrestricted free agent in the offseason.

The Oilers currently sit in third in the Pacific Division with a 44-26-5 record, and appear set for another first round matchup against the Kings. Edmonton will get as much of a preview of that series as they can without McDavid and Draisaitl when they visit Los Angeles on Saturday at 2 p.m. MST.