The Edmonton Oilers have fallen on hard times when it comes to injuries lately. Their list of ailing players has grown fast over the last few weeks, which has made it increasingly harder to keep pace in the Pacific Division title race. Among the injured is deadline acquisition Trent Frederic, who has appeared in just one game for the team and hasn’t made much of an impression so far.
Related: 5 Teams That Could Offer Sheet Oilers’ Evan Bouchard This Offseason
What at first seemed like a perfect swing at the deadline has turned into a bit of a concern for everyone in Oil Country, as no one has yet to see what Frederic can truly do in the Oilers’ lineup. In all fairness to him, the injury list in Edmonton has done nothing but grow since he has arrived. His aggressive, two-way play is certainly something that is sought after in the NHL today, but it can land him on the injured reserve more often than not, as we’ve seen.
Frederic’s Painful History
This certainly is not the first time Frederic has been hurt. His injury history tells quite the story of head-to-toe issues dating back almost five years. While it can be derived that the extensive injury list doesn’t quite equal the amount of games missed, it should be considered how many of those games Frederic wasn’t playing at full strength. That’s not good for anyone. And still a relatively young veteran in the league, this is not a good sign for either him or the Oilers.
After playing just 7:10 in his Oilers debut, fans haven’t seen him since. He was activated off of IR after spending just over a month on it, and it didn’t take long for him to re-injure himself again. It can be argued that he may be more injury-prone due to his play, however, he should be able to play a bit longer than seven minutes before having to take games off. That is not a sustainable model for any player or team.
As valuable as he is and potentially can be for the team, we can’t help but think about what other moves could have been made at the deadline instead of trading for Frederic. This isn’t to dismiss him already as he may still get healthy and return to the lineup, however, there’s always the “what if” of it all.
Looking Back at the Trade
Obviously, there is basically no way for us to evaluate his play so far, but we can still look at the trade for what it was. An exchange that sent prospect Maximus Wanner, a 2025 second-round pick, and a 2026 fourth-round pick to the Bruins for Frederic and forward Max Jones happened just days before this year’s trade deadline. Jones has actually done alright for himself with the Oilers, as he has seen some ice time with all the injuries on the team. You could even say Jones was the bigger get in the trade so far, given Frederic’s seven minutes haven’t shown us much.
The Oilers are the winners of this trade for the time being. However, they could quickly become losers. While Jones has been a nice depth addition, Frederic’s injury and expiring contract spell trouble for Edmonton. While it seems as simple as re-signing him for another couple years or so, it doesn’t fix the “now” problem. At full strength, this Oilers team is eager to build off of last year’s magical run. Having deadline acquisitions that have barely played, who either try to jump in halfway through or don’t play at all, becomes a big problem.
Frederic would be a great piece to retain for the future. His style of play and attitude seem to fit perfectly in Edmonton based on what we’ve seen in Boston, however, we need to see more this year. Without him showing up down the stretch of the season or early in the playoffs, it would be very hard for head coach Kris Knoblauch to justify taking out one of his more familiar options for this newcomer. This situation needs a remedy soon in order for the Oilers to move forward, not only this playoff season, but next season as well.
