Here’s what we know about the engaging Trent Frederic.
He likes to hit, likes to fight (ask Corey Perry), likes being in the same Edmonton Oilers’ locker room as Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, and he knows his history.
“Guess you’re not getting your No. 11 (from Boston Bruins)?” he was asked.
“No, there’s this Mark someone…”
Big laugh, with Messier’s jersey hanging from the rafters.
But, whenever Frederic gets into the lineup, probably on left-wing, after the Oilers’ complicated three-way deal with the Bruins and New Jersey Tuesday, whenever his sore right ankle heals after being hit by Toronto’s Jake McCabe Feb. 25, he’ll bring what the Oilers do not have in abundance.
Size with snarl, no laughing matter.
His body of work suggests he drags people in the fight.
Now, how long he’ll be doing that here we’ll have to see as an unrestricted free agent who could still be going to market July 1 if the Oilers can’t re-sign him. That’s a question for four months down the road, with the forecast for when he’ll play his first Oilers game also a bit cloudy.
“I don’t know… Taking it day by day, each day seems sooner and sooner, whenever (doctors and Oilers staff) let me skate. I’m just waiting for the right time,” said Frederic, who did have a walking boot on briefly in Boston but was wearing a pair of sneakers outside the Oilers dressing room Thursday morning as the Oilers prepared for the Montreal Canadiens.
But no skates — yet when asked about the injury and how it happened:
“I don’t know if you’ve seen the video of the hit… I have it on my phone, I could send it out,” laughed Frederic, who technically is out week-to-week. “Very innocent play. Simple hit and my knee dropped down a little and it caused something to happen with the ankle. Other than that I’ve been very healthy all year long.”
Frederic seemed a staple with the Bruins after 35 goals the past two seasons, along with his sandpaper game, but he had dropped to eight goals and 15 points in 57 games.
“Lots of mixed emotions leaving, but I could kind of see the writing on the wall. Really excited to be here. This team and this group (have a) good chance of making a run at it (Stanley Cup),” said the pugnacious Frederic, who wasn’t getting a lot of love from the aging, struggling Bruins on a new contract but was welcomed with a group team hug here.
What exactly excites him about donning his second NHL jersey, as No. 21? Randy Gregg’s number, also Jason Smith.
“The atmosphere here, the hockey culture and all the guys have been great reaching out (after the trade)… and obviously, playing with the superstars will be pretty cool,” said Frederic, who had a very competitive, tight room in Boston.
“We talked about that (culture) a lot in Boston. Hard to put just one label or word on what that is but basically, it’s being a good person, being hard-working and caring about one another,” he said.
Frederic fought Perry in early January on a night when the Oilers suffocated the Bruins in Boston, trying to get some life into his former team. No hard feelings with Perry, who got in touch with him after the trade.
“Yeah, he sent a funny, cool text,” said the St. Louis-born Frederic, who was friends with the Tkachuks, Matthew and Brady, along with fellow NHLers Clayton Keller and Luke Kunin growing up, playing roller-hockey in the basement, with lots of contact in a small area — right up Frederic’s alley.
“I was actually talking to my brother (Grant) a few weeks ago about him (Perry), how amazing it is, after he fought A.J. Greer (Florida), about how he can bring it and how he’s involved, the player he was, watching him as a kid to now, pretty amazing.”
Frederic has always been willing and able physically.
Is the right guy for that job here?
“I hope so. I guess we’ll find out. I know they’ve got a lot of guys who can score and make plays. I don’t think I have to worry about that much. They do have the puck a lot so it might be hard to make hits, but, yeah, that’s what I’ll try to bring,” said the 6’3”, 221-pound Frederic.
“This year hasn’t been the greatest offensive season of my life,” he admitted. “I can bring more. I have a good shot and can beat goalies in certain situations and get to the net.”
If he’s a good fit here, the Oilers will definitely want to re-sign him July 1.
Where’s his head at now with free-agency beckoning?
“The first thing I thought of (after the trade) was to keep an open mind. Yeah, I’ve thought about it (short-term vs. long-term Oiler). I’m pretty impressed with the last couple of hours (at the rink). It seems like a good group, everybody reaching out. I just want to help these guys (now),” he said.
Frederic’s brother wanted Trent to get dealt here.
“Yeah, he thinks this is the best chance to getting the big dream (Stanley Cup),” said Frederic. “He watches a lot of hockey and obviously, this is a team a lot of people like to watch. It’s exciting when they’re on TV. It’s a good game to tune into.”
While Frederic, who is probably a third-line LW here to start but has also played centre and right-wing, isn’t ready to play, Max Jones, who was also part of the three-team trade, will suit up against Montreal Thursday as No. 46 on left-wing. He’ll be on the fourth line with Kasperi Kapanen and Perry. Jeff Skinner will be a healthy scratch again.
Jones was the 24th player picked in the 2016 draft (Anaheim) and Frederic was the 29th (Bruins), the year the Oilers took Jesse Puljujarvi (just signed by Florida) No. 4, overall.
Jones — who played junior with Oilers defenceman Evan Bouchard in London, winning a Memorial Cup, and also in Anaheim with Perry and Adam Henrique — figured he was getting traded. The 6’3”, 216-pound winger had heard for a few weeks that it might be the Oilers and he was technically on the Bakersfield roster after the deal until recalled with Matt Savoie going back to the farm team.
Jones (265 NHL games) has had success against the Oilers as a Duck, playing in the same Pacific division, hoping it rubs off a little. He likes this building and knows his way around his current digs, the J.W. Marriott, next door from staying there for years as an opposing player.
“I had goosebumps when I heard the rumblings a few weeks before that it might be the Oilers (interested) because of the culture here, where they’ve been, what they’ve done, how they play as a team. A lot of racing thoughts… thinking it would be crazy if it was Edmonton and I’d be back in Canada after my time in junior with the Knights,” he said.
“I was really close with Bouch and Pears (Perry) is a legend from his time there too, and I got to play a little with Corey in Anaheim. And Rico (Henrique) too,” he said.
And Rogers Place has been his barn before.
“I think I got two goals here last year and almost had three in five minutes at the start of the game, craziest thing ever. Hopefully, I can do it with this team,” said Jones, who injured his groin in Bruins camp, played sparingly after that as they tried to find a winning lineup and had 13 goals in 38 games in the AHL in Providence.
This ‘n’ that
Farmhand defenceman Cam Dineen, up on emergency recall, will make his first Oilers start along with Jones, replacing blueliner John Klingberg, out with a minor injury. Dineen, 26, part of the Oilers-Arizona Nick Bjugstad trade on March 2, 2023, has played in the NHL before, 34 games with the Coyotes, but hasn’t played an NHL game in three years. He was recalled Monday because the Oilers weren’t sure if Mattias Ekholm and Darnell Nurse would play and was here a few hours and flew back to Bako when both vets dressed for the Ducks’ game. Now he’s back…
Adam Erne most recently wore No. 21 before Frederic…
As for Jones and No. 46, Zack Stortini wore the number, so did Pontus Aberg.
Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don’t miss the news you need to know — add EdmontonJournal.com and EdmontonSun.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters.
You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post, and 13 other Canadian news sites. The Edmonton Journal | The Edmonton Sun