Felger: I hated the Boston Bruins offseason
The Boston Bruins recently came to terms with restricted free agents Trent Frederic and Jeremy Swayman, which has essentially helped finish up the look of their roster for the upcoming season. On Wednesday’s Felger and Mazz, Felger gave his thoughts on the Bruins offseason so far and how they’ll look heading into their Centennial Season.
Felger’s thoughts on the Bruins offseason….
Felger: I hated their offseason. Hated it, hated it, hated it. And I still think they’re going to be okay. I don’t think they’re going to suck. I just hate running it back with two goalies when you don’t need two goalies in the postseason. So this this award for Jeremy Swayman who made #3.5 million? So he’s at $3.5 million and Linus Ullmark is at $5 million. I would much have preferred they trade Linus Ullmark and not worry about the return. Lose the trade. Fine with me. Get the salary. Bring up the Brandon Bussi kid from Providence. And the total outlay there, instead of being $8.5 million, you should be $4.5 million. Whatever. Bussi would make nothing. So there’s $4 million in savings right there.
Apr 17, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo (25) controls the puck against Florida Panthers center Eric Staal (12) during the third period of game one of the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports
Felger: I think one or both of Matt Grzelcyk and Brandon Carlo, I’ve been saying this over and over and over again, have both proven to be nice regular season players, but not what you need in the postseason. Not difference makers in the postseason. Get rid one or both of those guys. That’s another $4 million, or if it’s both, it’s close to $8 million. You add the backup goalie to one of those two defensemen and that’s the room for Bertuzzi or another real top six forward or real player. And it disgusts me that they’re just rolling it back with these guys that are not playoff proven and not difference makers. And I think they totally butchered the thing. That bothers me. And that’s my take on their off season.
Audio
Listen to Felger and Mazz from 2-6 every Monday-Friday on 98.5 The Sports Hub, with hosts Mike Felger, Tony “Mazz” Massarotti, and Jim Murray “Big Jim”. You can listen live in the Sports Hub App and subscribe to their podcasts here. Follow @FelgerAndMazz on Twitter to keep up with the show!
Bruins, Trent Frederic come to terms on multi-year deal
Dec 11, 2021; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Boston Bruins center Trent Frederic (11) against the Calgary Flames during the first period at Scotiabank Saddledome. (Sergei Belski/USA TODAY Sports)
It was also yet another case of the sides meeting almost right in the middle (though with no help of an arbitrator), as Frederic’s camp filed their arbitration number at $2.9 million while the B’s checked in at $1.4 million.
Frederic’s new $2.3 million cap hit also makes him the sixth-highest paid B’s forward for the upcoming season, putting him right in between Jake DeBrusk’s $4 million cap hit and free-agent addition Morgan Geekie and his $2 million cap hit.
The raise was certainly a deserved one for Frederic, all things considered, as the Missouri-born forward proved to be a valuable bottom-six weapon for the B’s in 2022-23, and established career-highs in in goals (17), assists (14), points (31), plus-minus (plus-28), and game-winning goals (six) in 79 games played for Jim Montgomery’s squad.
Frederic, who spent the majority of his season on a line with Charlie Coyle and the since-traded Taylor Hall, was also one of just two NHL players to score at least 17 goals while averaging under 12 minutes of time on ice per game last year (Daniel Sprong, who spent last year with the Kraken, was the other).
Jan 5, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Kings left wing Brendan Lemieux (48) and Boston Bruins center Trent Frederic (11) fight in the third period at Crypto.com Arena. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea/USA TODAY Sports)
On a roster that remained virtually unchanged from 2021-22 to 2022-23, the Bruins were hopeful that the switch from Bruce Cassidy to Montgomery would do a world of good for a player like Frederic, and they weren’t wrong.
Given more of an established role, and with his tires almost constantly pumped by Montgomery, who would always note that he was familiar with Frederic given his St. Louis roots and praise what an athlete he was growing up, Frederic certainly found his footing and didn’t suffer from any of the identity crisis issues he appeared to have over his first two NHL seasons. He wasn’t worried about taking a bad penalty or having to an agitator. He was simply playing his game, and finding out who he is an everyday threat in this league along the way.
“When you’re younger, it helps with the goals and stuff,” Frederic said of his strides this past season. “I don’t know how to explain it, but [scoring] gives you more confidence in yourself. When you have no goals it’s hard to back up the fighting. You just got to do what you got to do.”
Frederic didn’t let the goal-scoring progress derail that fighting element of his game, as he still led the Bruins (along with A.J. Greer) in fighting majors this past season, with seven. (Also: Frederic could be a 50-goal scorer and he’d still go out of his way to fight Brendan Lemieux, this much I do know.)
Dec 3, 2022; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins center Trent Frederic (11) scores a goal past Colorado Avalanche goaltender Pavel Francouz (39) during the first period at TD Garden. (Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports)
Frederic also had a knack for making his linemates better.
Whether that was just by luck or him figuring out how to properly utilize his 6-foot-3, 214-pound frame, Frederic was a value-add for guys like Coyle and Hall, both of whom saw their numbers dip a bit when separated from Frederic.
“I love [Frederic],” Coyle said. “I love playing with him. He’s such a great kid. Great teammate. I really love him as a player. He’s only getting better and better. You can see the strides he’s taken, the confidence that he’s built, and it’s great to see. You can just tell every day he’s working on his game. He’s doing this. He’s getting more confident each day. He’s going to have a big summer here, and he’s going to come back and be even better. There’s no question about that. He’s taken some great strides. It’s awesome to see.”
Whether or not Coyle and Frederic remain a one-two punch on Boston’s third line, however, is anybody’s guess. Especially with some of the roster construct changes the Bruins have already gone through and will potentially continue to go through between now and opening night.
Frederic has his own uncertainty in that respect, too.
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JANUARY 14: Trent Frederic #11 of the Boston Bruins looks on during the first period against the Toronto Maple Leafs at TD Garden on January 14, 2023 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Despite being utilized as a wing for the majority of the 2022-23 campaign, Frederic could move to center in 2023-24 depending on what the Bruins do with players like Morgan Geekie and Patrick Brown, and whether or not a younger player pops and makes the B’s roster out of training camp.
If that happens (or even if it doesn’t, to be honest), the Bruins will need to see a substantial improvement from Frederic on the faceoff front, as Frederic has lost 56 percent of his career faceoffs. And speaking organizationally, the Bruins could definitely use a lefty faceoff option emerging given the loss of Tomas Nosek in free agent, and even Nick Foligno, who would often take faceoffs in Frederic’s place when on the ice together.
With this next contract, the Bruins will also need to see some playoff production from Frederic. The 25-year-old has yet to record a point in nine career playoff appearances, and Frederic has been a healthy scratch in the playoffs under both Cassidy and Montgomery.
This contract, which will allow Frederic to become an unresticted free agent at its conclusion, is a case of the Bruins wanting to see if last year’s scoring is sustainable or if Frederic was simply riding the high of skating on what was a historically good regular season B’s team.
Apr 6, 2021; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Boston Bruins center Trent Frederic (11) and Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman (1) celebrate win against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center. (Eric Hartline/USA TODAY Sports)
On the financial front, Frederic’s contract leaves the Bruins with just over $3 million to re-sign restricted free agent Jeremy Swayman, whose arbitration award will come down later today.
The Bruins should have enough space to fit Swayman into the mix, though it’ll likely mean that the Bruins skate without a full 23-man roster, instead rolling with just one or two healthy scratches instead of the normal three.
