The Edmonton Oilers and Trent Frederic about to form a long-term business relationship

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Is Trent Frederic about to become a long-term member of the Edmonton Oilers?

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In a word…yes.

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The talk is an eight-year term with an AAV between $3.5-4m for the feisty forward and pending UFA in Edmonton. And it sounds like some form of no-move clause would accompany that. Frederic is coming off a two-year deal with an AAV of $2.3m. My view is that the term is probably close, and that the money will lean heavily closer to a four than a three.

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The are objectively lots of reasons to like this player on the Oilers longer term. Your milage may vary.

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He is a little younger than the core, will not be twenty-eight until February. He has lots of size (6’3, 221). And he has an abundance of grit and is not shy to use it in the right situations. Frederic has hands and is more than willing to go to the net (scored 17 and 18 goals in Boston between 2022-23 and 2023-24) where they are productive tools. He is also flexible. He can play both wings and center, although his NHL faceoff average is a mere 44.4%. And on top of all that…he wants to be in Edmonton.

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In short, Trent Frederic ticks an awful lot of boxes for the Edmonton Oilers.

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So, why worry? Well in fairness, there are a few things.

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No, he did not set the world on fire in the post-season. His offence was just 1-3-4 in 22 GP, with eighty-five hits. But I can not stress enough that the most likely source of that was what has reported as a high ankle sprain. Although I wonder if we will someday learn that it was instead in fact a broken foot. But I digress. Regardless, I had multiple viewings of Frederic prior to that, and my thought was always “Man, I’d sure like to have that on my team.” And I still feel that way.

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You may be concerned how his regular season production fell off last season, from close to a twenty-goal scorer in consecutive years to just eight in fifty-seven games. That is fair. But equally so, I note that his most common linemate with the Bruins Charlie Coyle also regressed from 25-35-60 in 2023-24 to 15-7-22 in the sixty-four games before he was dealt to Colorado. Methinks the two are related.

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Finally, you may also be concerned about the possible term being thrown around and I can sympathize with you there. An eight-year contract term can indeed help keep the AAV down when cap considerations are important. But Frederic’s player type is also more susceptible to injury. It is not a shortcoming, just a fact.

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But after all of that, am I convinced that Trent Frederic is the kind of player the Oilers need? Yes. I am only moderately concerned on a production front. And yes, the reported term is a bit of  worry, but it probably only becomes an issue after the Edmonton Oilers’ cup window closes.