There was a pretty clear idea of what Trent Frederic was supposed to be when the Edmonton Oilers brought him in.
He was a 6-foot-3, bottom-six forward who would finish checks, get physical, and provide enough offence to move around the lineup when necessary. Edmonton was paying for a player who would be involved every night.
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Instead, they’re paying for a player who’s gone largely unnoticed.
Frederic has become an easy target in Edmonton with his $3.85 million cap hit. A player making that much money in the bottom six has to provide something consistently and Frederic hasn’t scored enough, hasn’t been physical enough, while too often has gone through games with little influence.
He could enter training camp fighting just to stay in the NHL. Frederic runs the real risk of getting paid $3.85 million a season to play in Bakersfield.
It’s a remarkable position to be in considering what Edmonton thought they was getting.
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Frederic is well-liked by his teammates and has never had a reputation as a problem in the room. By all accounts, he’s a good guy who wants to get better. But fans watching a team with limited cap space pay nearly $4 million for a player who has become difficult to notice don’t really care.
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“I would say that’s fair,” Frederic told Bob Stauffer on Oilers Now. “I don’t think I started off great. [Playing with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl], I think we were pretty good, playing with the two best players.
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“But I don’t think I started off great. I just kind of got lost who I was. I didn’t really have much of an identity. So hopefully, I’ve gained some confidence just getting away from the game and enjoying it right now in the summer and having fun and working out and everything.”
Frederic has lost parts of his identity. His value has always depended on everything surrounding the offence, not becoming a high-end offensive player himself. He has to be around the puck, finish checks, win battles and give Edmonton a physical presence in games that call for one. When those things disappear, there isn’t enough left in his game to make him particularly useful.
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Kris Knoblauch never found a way to get that player back into the game, but maybe Mike Babcock can.
There should be very little confusion about what Babcock will expect from Frederic. He has spent his career demanding details from players and has never been reluctant to tell somebody when they aren’t being good enough. And Frederic is the one player on this roster who unequivocally needs this.
If Frederic isn’t scoring, he still has to affect the game physically. If he isn’t getting many touches with the puck, he has to be noticeable on the forecheck. If Edmonton’s better players are getting pushed around, Frederic can’t be another player watching it happen.
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Those were supposed to be the reasons he was brought here.
But that was last year. Frederic wasn’t healthy enough to have a normal summer a year ago, something that put him behind before the season had even started.
“Going back last summer, I wasn’t able to skate until around probably now, started just barely getting on the ice again,” said Frederic. “For me, I think after the (Olympic) break, I would say I was probably as close as 100 per cent as I had been before the injury. I think it’s unfortunate that we lost early, but it’s been great for myself just to get a full summer of training hard and early skating, and at 100 per cent. It’ll be good.”
Frederic has had the summer to train properly, and he will arrive at camp healthy. Edmonton has enough competition in its bottom six that past performances on different teams won’t be enough to guarantee anything.
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The Oilers would probably be happy if Babcock can get Frederic back to being the player they thought they were acquiring.
Frederic can be very useful in the NHL. He can be difficult to play against, and there has been enough offence in his career to suggest he shouldn’t be an automatic fourth-liner. What disappeared last season was any identity that made him the player he was.
A demanding coach is capable of bringing some of that back.
“I’m just excited to come back next year and have a fresh start and pretty excited to have Babs [Mike Babcock] and get kind of a complete fresh slate,” Frederic said.
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He’ll get one.
Babcock will give Frederic another opportunity, while making it clear what’ll happen if he doesn’t take advantage of it.
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