6 thoughts on Bruins trading Trent Frederic

Well, in one of those things that I always felt that I needed to see to truly believe given the rarity of it, Tuesday afternoon made it official: Don Sweeney and the Bruins are selling.

Boston's first move of deadline week was an obvious one, too, with the injured Trent Frederic, along with Max Jones, moved to Edmonton (via New Jersey) in exchange for a 2025 second-round pick (originally belonged to St. Louis), Edmonton's 2026 fourth-round pick, and defensive prospect Max Wanner.

When it comes to the trade itself — and this is important just to note here, I want to keep it to the trade itself and not how we got here some nine years ago (more on that later) — it's hard to imagine the Bruins doing better if you take a view-from-30,000-feet look at it: The Bruins clearly weren't all that enamored with the prospect of re-signing Frederic to an extension, Frederic had underperformed this season after a career-high 18 goals and 40 points a year ago, and then got hurt... and the Bruins still turned him (and Jones) into a three-piece return for the club, headlined by a top-64 pick coming back to the Bruins.

As someone who thought the Bruins were doomed into getting a third-round pick at best as the result of Frederic's injury, that's some solid work from Sweeney. There's also something to be said for making sure it was the St. Louis second-round pick (and not an Edmonton one in 2026 or 2027), as that's a pick that's expected to be somewhere in the middle of the second round opposed to the end of the round.

In pure value alone, the Bruins have really missed out on having an actual pick in the second round, having made just two picks in the second round over the last six drafts. The second round has actually produced two of the Bruins' biggest draft successes over that span, too, with Mason Lohrei (2020) and Matt Poitras (2022). The way the Bruins have outright abandoned the second round for help was not a play for long-term success, so to find themselves back in there is a definite start.

And current projections for the second round of this year's draft could have the Bruins in a prime position to attack obvious needs at center and even on defense (think of the Bruins' love of size from defensive prospects drafted over the last few years) depending on how the draft board falls this June.

Here are some other thoughts from the Frederic-to-Edmonton trade...

On one hand, I want to give credit to Sweeney for doing what he was not unwilling to do with Jake DeBrusk last year or even Loui Eriksson in 2016 and understanding that his club was not a true Cup contender and selling on a player that they obviously were not going to re-sign to an extension. That's a sign of a veteran GM who gets it, has been through it, and has learned from it. But on the other hand, there's no doubt that this was the easiest call that Sweeney could and/or will make this deadline.

The writing for a split between Frederic and the Bruins had been on the wall from the moment he began the season without an extension. I mean, we've seen this play out a billion times by now, and with better players, and it's pretty much always ended with that player leaving as a free agent. And Frederic's struggles — he began his season with one goal in 18 games (and he scored that goal on Opening Night) and exited the lineup on Feb. 24 riding a stretch that featured three goals over his final 27 games in Boston — only made that decision easier for the Black and Gold.

Under then-head coach Jim Montgomery, Frederic's confidence grew and his game blossomed, and turned him into a highly-productive middle-six winger. Whether or not it was because of their St. Louis connections predating their time together in Boston, it felt like fixing Frederic was one of Montgomery's first missions, and it worked and the Bruins were a better team for it.

But something a little troubling always lingered over that success story: Frederic's shooting percentage.

Over two full seasons under Montgomery, Frederic racked up a combined 35 goals behind a 14.4 shooting percent. Only three NHL players shot the puck had a higher shooting percentage over that span while also landing at least 200 shots on goal and averaging less than 15 minutes of time on ice per game (like Frederic). It was also a heavy deviation from what Frederic had previously shot, with a 7.3 shooting percentage in 119 games over his first four NHL seasons before Montgomery's arrival.

Sustainability was always going to be a question mark until proven otherwise, and while the 27-year-old's shooting percentage did not crater to the depths of hell this season, it did regress down to a more human 10.5 percent. And the Bruins were a worse team for it. The Bruins could've operated with the belief that it would've swung the other direction at some point, especially as the team was a more complete product, but that's also not strong rationale to give someone the best contract of their life.

And this is where we come back to the easiness of this decision.

The Bruins have by all means already replaced Frederic's nastiness as a physical threat and fighter with the addition of and subsequent contract extension awarded to Mark Kastelic. So, for Boston, the question became "can we replace Frederic in the aggregate?" It's something they've tried in the past with mixed results, but with the fighting aspect taken care of, replacing Frederic (this year, anyway) came down to, "Can we get someone who can shoot above 10 percent on their 120 shots or so moving forward?" And for what it's worth, 142 players, including Frederic, did that a season ago.

As the season progressed, I got this feeling that I simply could not shake: The Bruins would keep one of Morgan Geekie and Trent Frederic, but not both. The players were not directly connected, clearly, but this was something that sort of kicked around in my head for a bit. They both played all three forward positions — and both have a knack for actually producing stronger results on their off wing — and they were both in the final year of their respective contracts, though with Geekie skating as a pending restricted free agent compared to Frederic's pending unrestricted free agent status.

And if this was indeed an unspoken contest with the Bruins' walls this season, Geekie certainly outperformed Frederic, with over double the goals and proving to be a strong fit opposite David Pastrnak on Boston's top line. The latter being something Frederic was never even in consideration to accomplish beyond those quick post-penalty kill shifts where the Bruins would Frankenstein a line. I also think Geekie is a stronger player down low and has a noticeably heavier shot, giving him a definite edge over No. 11, but that's all besides the point when it comes to the grand scheme of things, I admit.

But if Frederic netted the Bruins a second and two other assets, and if Geekie is going through the same things that Frederic went through the previous two seasons (Geekie's shot 15.2 percent since joining Boston in 2023 after shooting a combined 10.4 in his previous 180 NHL games), do the Bruins think they can hit an even greater home run with a Geekie trade by Friday's deadline?

One thing is clear, it's a great market if you're a seller, and just about everybody on the Bruins is available if the price is right. Asking around the league, it seems like the Bruins have identified just three untouchables, and you'd be correct to assume it's their three highest-paid players.

Speaking after Tuesday's loss to the Predators, Geekie shot down the uneasiness that comes with the trade deadline given his own uncertainty, and has made it clear that he wants to remain with Boston beyond this season. The 'problem' within that is that his performance this year has set himself up for a tremendous payday that ultimately not be something that the Bruins are willing to match given their own potential reservations about the sustainability of his production.

Boy, doesn't that sound familiar?

I told you we would scratch this itch if you were patient, so here we are. Here's a look at the first-round pick forwards selected by the Bruins under Don Sweeney and where they're playing now: Jake DeBrusk (Vancouver), Zach Senyshyn (Germany for the last two years after just 16 career NHL games), Frederic (Edmonton), Johnny Beecher (Boston's fourth line), Fabian Lysell (a prison cell on Alcatraz Island, I mean AHL Providence), and Dean Letourneau (Boston College's fourth line).

I mean, point blank, that's not good enough.

Going back to 2016, the Bruins doomed Frederic from the start when they said they projected him as a third-line guy. Nobody wanted to hear that with what was essentially a bonus first-round pick (the Bruins acquired the pick taken to select Frederic in the 2015 trade that sent Martin Jones to San Jose). It didn't help that franchise, high-end scorers like the Blues' Jordan Kyrou and Detroit's Alex DeBrincat (though his career began in Chicago) went within just 10 picks of Boston's selection of Frederic. I understand that you can do this with most drafts, but for the Bruins, this has become a definite theme of sorts. I mean, if you look at the list above, the only guy who's currently in Boston like Frederic was prior to Tuesday's trade is Beecher, another player who the Bruins projected as a bottom-six talent.

Listen, at the end of the day, Frederic became a regular, contributing member of the Black and Gold's third line for two full seasons. But the Bruins have to aim higher than that when it comes to their future firsts, as Tuesday was another confirmation that those kinds of players rarely fetch firsts down the road.

Not a headline stealer by any stretch, I know, but kudos to the Bruins for also getting rid of the Max Jones contract in this trade. It was nothing even close to a backbreaking contract, with his $1 million cap hit this year and next able to be completely buried in Providence, but it was a contract on the Bruins' books all the same. And for a player that the club had no interest in utilizing on their NHL roster.

Why does this matter? Well, the Bruins love to dip their toes into the NCAA free agent pool, and this frees up a slot for the Bruins to get aggressive with a potential high-end college free agent without running into the worries about running out of NHL contract slots because they have one tied up in Jones.

Again, nothing major, but something to note and a potential advantage for the Bruins to get some 'free' help outside of their own current prospect pool.

A name to watch: Colorado College's Gleb Veremyev.

A 6-foot-4 forward, Veremyev participated in last year's Bruins development camp (which can sometimes be a tell when it comes to future interest from Boston), and could hit the college free agent market after posting 25 goals and 50 points in 83 games at Colorado over the last three seasons.

Last but not least, we've spent this entire time talking about Frederic and the Bruins, but how about Frederic and the Oilers? To be honest, I like this fit. I thought Minnesota could've been a landing spot for Frederic prior to their trade for Gustav Nyquist this past weekend, but when it came to finding that next fit, I always found myself coming to three teams: The Oilers, Capitals, or Kings. And sure enough, Edmonton came calling and absolutely identified Frederic as a need for their 2025 playoff run.

And, you know what? It makes sense.

As things stand right now, the Oilers are on a collision course for what would be a fourth straight opening-round showdown with the Kings. Los Angeles is no stranger to playing a physical brand of hockey, and they have a definite edge over the Oilers on that front once again, with the Kings averaging almost 21 hits per game (17th-best rate in the NHL) compared to the Oilers and their NHL-low 13.42 hits per 60. As it stands right now, the Oilers' best threat at neutralizing that is the 39-year-old Corey Perry.

In other words, the Oilers aren't bringing Frederic in to try and make him the next Zach Hyman potting 50 by simply existing next to one of their all-world superstars, but to help them inch closer towards being able to handle the rough and nasty stuff that comes with playoff hockey.

Frederic has never been the face-eating physical presence like prime Tom Wilson or childhood friend Brady Tkachuk, but he's always been willing, which might be all the Oilers really need out of him.