This week, after filing for arbitration, restricted free agent Trent Frederic and the Boston Bruins were able to come to terms on a new contract. It’s a two-year contract that carries an average annual value of $2.3 million. While the team was initially offering a contract with an AAV of $1.4 million and Frederic’s camp was looking for $2.9 million, the two sides were able to meet in the middle without having to go before the arbitrator.
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It’s certainly a raise for the 25-year-old, who is coming off the best season of his career. In 2022-23, he registered 17 goals and 31 points in 79 games, far surpassing his previous career highs of eight goals and 18 points in 60 games during the 2021-22 season. While Frederic had some initial struggles at the start of the last season, he finally started to put his game together and show glimpses of the player he could be.
With this new contract and a very obvious hole on offense now that Patrice Bergeron has officially retired, the Bruins are going to be looking for guys to step up. Frederic is someone that could and should be one of those guys. The 2016 first-round selection has struggled to meet expectations so far in his career, but now can be the chance for him to really make his mark.
Potential Move to Center
Frederic, who spent most of his juniors and college career playing down the middle, has not spent much time at center so far in his NHL career. Last season, he was primarily used on the wing on the third line with Charlie Coyle. But he was an efficient center while playing at the University of Wisconsin. He registered 17 goals and 32 points in 36 games during his final season at Wisconsin in 2017-18.
A return to center very well could be in the cards for him this season and will provide him an opportunity to step up. The center position is wide open for the Bruins right now with Bergeron gone and David Krejci’s future still undecided. Right now, the projected lineup is looking like Coyle on the first line and Pavel Zacha on the second line, giving Frederic an opportunity to center the third line.
The team will have to do a lot to even come close to rebuilding the center in the wake of Bergeron’s absence. Frederic could be a real positive addition if he can take last year’s career year and use it as momentum to build off of in 2023-24. Hopefully, he’ll be invigorated by a potential shift to his natural position and his new contract to step up and provide some much-needed depth down the middle.
What Should Expectations Be
Again, Frederic is coming off the best season of his career, but it was just one season. Things were certainly not looking up for him prior to 2022-23, as he struggled to be an efficient and consistent member of the roster. He became better known for being a hard hitter and taking bad penalties than being a positive contributor. He spent some nights in the press box as a healthy scratch and also had some injury woes.
Given his new contract, the hope and expectation is that he’ll be able to at least match last season’s total. He is not going to be an automatic replacement for Bergeron; no one on that roster is going to realistically come close. At the moment, the team is looking quite weak down the middle, and there are a lot of question marks. Is Coyle equipped to take the top-line spot? Like Frederic, Zacha is coming off of a career year but spent most of it on the wing. Will he be able to make the move back to center and be as good of a contributor?
What went right for the Bruins last year was that everyone among their forwards was able to find the perfect spot for them. The chemistry among the lines was excellent, allowing for so many guys to have career years and giving the team the offensive depth they’d been missing. The question now is whether or not they will be able to find the right combinations and placements again with the group they have. Will Frederic be able to exceed if he’s moved back to the middle, or will he revert back to the player he was prior to 2022-23?
When looking at player comparisons for Frederic, Tom Wilson of the Washington Capitals comes up often as someone he should strive to be. Wilson is a modern-day enforcer type where he can make the big hit and partake in a fight when necessary, but he can also be a positive and consistent contributor on offense. The Bruins need Frederic’s physical style of play, but just as importantly, they need his offense.
Like Wilson, he needs to figure out the balance, and hopefully, he can build off last season to continue to find it. It took a few seasons for him to put it all together, and hopefully, Frederic can follow that similar pattern in his young career and build off of his breakout year in 2022-23.
New Season, New Contract
The Bruins are obviously committed to Frederic and see potential for him with the team. The front office knew they would have a cap crunch this offseason, knew he would be looking for a contract upwards of $2 million, and still gave him the qualifying offer. Whether they truly commit to moving him to center in 2023-24 or keep him out on the wing, expectations should be that he at least matches last season’s point total.
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With this new contract, I am certainly interested to watch Frederic this upcoming season. I think he should get an honest shot at center and am excited to hopefully see him grow into a legitimate NHL center. Things are much more open and in flex with this roster than it has been since he has come into the NHL.
Frederic grew a lot on the ice last season, and it was really great to see him finally developing into more of the player fans were hoping he’d become. The 2023-24 season will hopefully be one that is looked back upon as the season he continued that growth.
