The 2023 calendar year has seen an evolution of Trent Frederic as a hockey player. The 2016 first-round draft pick had some struggles cracking the roster after finishing up his collegiate career at Wisconsin. He spent two seasons primarily playing for the Providence Bruins of the American Hockey League (AHL) with occasional call-ups to play in Boston. When he finally cracked the roster full-time, he began to make a reputation for himself for his physical play, which bordered on reckless, while struggling to consistently put up points.
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In the second half of the 2022-23 season, there was a change in Frederic. The physical style of play was still there, but he wasn’t taking as many bad penalties to go along with it. Most importantly, the points started to rack up for him.
There was wonder if the season was a fluke or a real sign of improvement as a player, and so far in 2023-24, he’s showing that it wasn’t a fluke. As the calendar flips to 2024, it’s the perfect time to look back at how he’s grown the past year and what expectations should be going forward into the rest of the season.
Everything Falling into Place
The Bruins have demonstrated over the years that they were committed to making things work with Frederic. Not many prospects have necessarily been able to fully crack the Bruins roster over the past few seasons, making him one of the few. During the Seattle Kraken expansion draft, the team chose to protect him, demonstrating that the team was clearly committed to continuing with his development and turning him into a more well-rounded, offensive contributor.
The question then arose in his first few seasons, what kind of NHL player was he going to be? It was clear he was a physical player, and expectations soon came for him to become a Tom Wilson type of player, a guy who will play physical but can also be a consistent contributor on offense. Until last season though, that wasn’t happening and patience was beginning to wear thin with his bad penalties as well.
There’s been plenty of conversation about the benefit Jake DeBrusk got with the arrival of Jim Montgomery as head coach last season, but Frederic was also able to see great improvement under the new coach and system. After putting together a season of four goals and five points in 2020-21 and a season of eight goals and 18 points in 60 games in 2021-22, he registered 17 goals and 31 points in 79 games in 2022-23. Ten of those goals came in the second half of the season after the calendar flipped to 2023.
Frederic doubled his career goal total in a single season in 2022-23, and was still able to hold onto the physical aspect of his game that he became known for at the start of his career. He was fifth on the team in hits last season and fourth in penalty minutes. The difference, of course, was that he was playing that physical style, still occasionally taking the bad penalty, but was at least able to contribute more offensively.
Playing With New Contract and New Expectations
Frederic’s turnaround came in a contract year. He and Jeremy Swayman were restricted free agents this past offseason. The Bruins were thankfully able to avoid going to arbitration, granting him a two-year extension with an average annual value of $2.3 million. It was a good deal for both sides. With the leaps he took forward offensively still recent, locking him in longer for two years wouldn’t have been good for either side. What if Frederic once again increased his goal total, or what if he took a big step backwards? His current contract is a good “show me” contract for the 25-year-old to prove that he can match or exceed what he did last season.
With the new contract and a 17-goal contribution last season, expectations for Frederic coming into this season were for him to at least match the player he was in 2022-23, if not to step up along with a number of other guys on the roster to make up for the absence of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci. So far, he’s done just that.
So far in 2023-24, Frederic has seven goals and 13 points, putting him seventh overall on the team, ahead of DeBrusk, Matthew Poitras, and Morgan Geekie. He found great chemistry playing on the third line with Charlie Coyle last season, and he’s spent time playing with him again so far and their success has continued. But, Frederic has also managed to play well when not with him as the coaching staff shakes things up in light of recent struggles. In their Dec. 16 matchup against the New York Rangers, he played on a line with Poitras and James van Riemsdyk, scoring his seventh goal of the season.
The physical style of his game has also not gone away even as he contributes more offensively. He’s gotten in multiple fights this season, which have been instrumental momentum changers for the team, and he leads the team with 51 hits. It’s also important to note that he doesn’t spend a lot of time on special teams, so all seven of his goals have come at even strength.
The Year of Frederic
2023 has been a great year for Frederic. His excellent play in 2022-23, particularly the second half, led to a good contract extension, and he’s been able to play at the same level through the first half of 2023-24, even when not being centered by Coyle. This has been a year where he’s turned from a physical, streaky player into a consistent contributor. He’ll probably (never say never) be a top scorer on the roster, but he is doing his part and contributing when necessary.
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With the arrival of the new year and the second half of the 2023-24 season, the hope is that Frederic stays healthy and continues doing what he’s doing. He’s currently on pace to hit 36 points and 19 goals, surpassing last season’s totals.
Last season saw great performances up and down the lineup, which was a major part of the Bruins’ historic success. While they are not on the same level as the 2022-23 team, this is still a very talented roster with contributions from up and down the lineup, and Frederic is a great example of that.
