Bruins provide update on Trent Frederic
Bruins forward and pending free agent Trent Frederic was already facing an uncertain future. And now he’ll do that while nursing an injury, as Thursday provided more clarity on Frederic’s injury after an injury knocked him out of play during the second period of Tuesday’s loss to the Maple Leafs.
“He’s got a lower-body injury and he’ll be out week-to-week,” Bruins interim head coach Joe Sacco said Thursday when asked about Frederic’s status. “It’s an opportunity for another player to step in. Like tonight, it’ll be Riley Tufte who’ll jump into that spot [at] third-line left wing.”
The ‘week-to-week’ designation comes with the Bruins just eight days away from the NHL trade deadline, and with Frederic’s name surfacing in trade rumors for a potentially selling B’s club, and likely means that any potential suitors will not see Frederic on the ice before the Mar. 7 trade deadline.
But the injury does not change anything when it comes to his overall status, as the Bruins could still move Frederic by the deadline, according to NHL insider Chris Johnston.
While it may not impact the Bruins’ plans, it could certainly impact the potential return the Bruins could get on a Frederic team, with teams straight-up uncertain as to what level of health Frederic would be at upon his arrival to a new organization. (They would find themselves on the flip side of it this time around, but the Bruins experienced that firsthand last year when they traded for an injured Pat Maroon and had to put him on a warp speed program to get him in games before the start of the 2024 postseason.)
The natural problem within that is that if you were looking at pure rentals that could’ve been put on the move by the Bruins by the deadline, there’s no denying that Frederic would’ve netted the Bruins the best return in any rental-out trade that did not involve team captain Brad Marchand. The Bruins nor Marchand seem overly eager to go through a split, for what it’s worth, meaning that deductive reasoning could’ve told you that Frederic is and was their top trade chip this deadline season.
Frederic and Marchand are just two of the Bruins’ pending unrestricted free agents on the NHL roster, while that list also includes forwards Justin Brazeau, Cole Koepke, and Riley Tufte, along with defensemen Parker Wotherspoon and Group 6 free agent Michael Callahan.
One of two of Boston’s first-round picks in 2016, Frederic has spent his entire career with the Bruins, and though he’s scored just eight goals and totaled 15 points on the year, he is coming off what was a career-best 18 goals and 40 points in 2023-24.
