Bruins suffer in-game loss in brutal collapse to Maple Leafs
As if blowing a 3-0 and 4-3 lead was not bad enough, Tuesday’s loss to the Maple Leafs came with a potentially devastating blow to the Bruins’ deadline plans, with forward and pending unrestricted free agent Trent Frederic knocked out of the game with an undisclosed injury.
“I don’t have an update on [Frederic] just yet,” Bruins interim head coach Joe Sacco said following his team’s overtime loss to Toronto, which pushed Boston’s winless streak to four (0-2-2). “I’ll know more later tonight or tomorrow. Obviously, he didn’t return to the game.”
Limited to just 5:18 of time on ice, Frederic finished with three hits and a faceoff win, and the injury appeared to occur in the second period following a collision with the Leafs’ Jake McCabe.
And as noted, the injury comes with the Bruins less than two weeks away from the trade deadline, and with Frederic drawing a lot of interest from contenders around the league.
Most recently, DailyFaceOff.com’s Frank Seravalli noted Frederic as a ‘pain in the ass’ player that contenders covet, and listed six teams as potential fits for the 6-foot-3 forward. Seravalli also noted that Frederic and the Bruins have not made progress on extension talks, while Bruins general manager Don Sweeney did not mention Frederic when talking about players who could be signed to extensions ahead of the Mar. 7 trade deadline (he didn’t mention Frederic at all, in fact).
On Monday, Frederic touched on his uncertain future.
“I’m obviously aware of the situation, being a UFA, not having a deal,” Frederic said following practice in Brighton. “I’m not oblivious to that, but I don’t think like [leaving Boston is happening by the deadline]. I’m not going to. If something happens, I’ll react off that.”
Frederic, who had a career-high 18 goals and 40 points last season, has posted eight goals and 15 points, along with 155 hits, through 57 games this season.
