BOSTON — Off the ice, Trent Frederic seems to have things together.
The former Bruins first-round pick was back in Boston on Thursday for the first time with the Oilers, when Edmonton edged his former team, 3-1 at TD Garden.
He got engaged and is getting married next summer. He sold his Boston condo and he’s in the first year of an eight-year, $30.8 million extension with a team that figures to be a Stanley Cup contender for the foreseeable future. Life is pretty good.
On the ice, Frederic is still figuring out where he fits.
He hasn’t rediscovered the scoring touch that saw him score 17 goals in 2022-23 and 18 in 2023-24 in Boston. He’s got just two goals and an assist through 34 games.
He’s not really fighting either. Other than one tussle with Mathieu Olivier over a month ago, he’s largely kept his gloves on.
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Trent Frederic fighting
He’s averaging just 11:23 on the ice per game and has been under 10 in four of the last five. He start and played 11:40 across 19 shifts on Thursday.
Asked to describe his role, he wasn’t sure.
“I’m still trying to figure that out. I don’t know what I’ve created for myself,” said Frederic, who was still sporting fresh stitches from getting a redirected puck in the face from a teammate’s shot. “I didn’t have a great start. But there’s still a lot of season left.”
Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch sounded like the team is still searching too.
“It’s been changed quite a bit since the start of the season. Now that we’re 37 games in, we have a pretty good handle on where our guys should be slotted,” he said. “For Trent Frederic, being on the third, fourth line giving us some physicality and being an all-around good player. … We’re committed to Trent. We think he’s a good player. We need to find a place where he can help us win.”
He’ll play center withkick-started former Boston teammate Max Jones on his wing against the Bruins.
“They’re a hardworking group. Seems like they’re playing hard for the new coach here,” said Frederic, who was impressed by Morgan Geekie’s continued offense. “Good to see Geeks is a threat.”
Frederic was the first Boston player to be dealt, starting the flurry of moves that kick-started the franchise’s rebuild amidst a disappointing season. They sent him and Jones to the Oilers for two draft picks and prospect Max Wanner.
He said he wasn’t really surprised he was traded, although he learned about the move in an unusual place.
“I was injured, sitting in the cold tub,” he said. “I had a feeling it could happen the way the year was going.”
He ended up facing former teammate Brad Marchand in the Stanley Cup finals.
“It was just weird. We didn’t really say much. I was looking forward to seeing him in the handshake line,” Frederic said. “He sent me a nice text afterward. You never want to see Florida win, but he deserved it. He played well. If you get any positive out of that, it was to get to see him win. I saw all the work he put in over the years.”
