The 2024-25 NHL season has nearly reached its halfway point and it won’t be much longer before the trade deadline is here.
The Boston Bruins are one team worth monitoring ahead of this season’s deadline. Although Joe Sacco’s team is currently occupying a playoff spot, a lot can change in the next two or so months. If the Bruins aren’t on track to make the postseason come March, they could decide to move veteran players for draft picks.
Assuming that the Bruins become sellers in the coming weeks, The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa is listing veteran forward Trent Frederic as one of the club’s top trade candidates.
“Frederic will be unrestricted after this season,” Shinzawa wrote, adding that a new contract from the Bruins is an uncertainty. “He has been a good multi-position forward, but his ceiling as a Bruin is as a third-liner.”
“If a team sees more in Frederic and is willing to trade significant draft or futures capital, the Bruins have to move the left-shot forward.”
Frederic has been with the Bruins since he was drafted 29th overall at the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. Although the St. Louis, Missouri native showed some offensive upside during his time at the University of Wisconsin, he hasn’t come close to finding similar success as a professional player.
The 26-year-old grinder looked like he was finally reaching his potential last season when he set career highs in goals (18), assists (22) and points (40) in 72 games. Unfortunately, that performance appears to be an anomaly.
Frederic has fallen back down to earth this season, registering only five goals and 11 points through 38 appearances. He’s averaging only 0.29 points per game, which is his worst production rate of the last four seasons and puts him on pace for just 24 points in an 82-game season.
If the Bruins believe that this is his ceiling, moving Frederic ahead of the deadline would be far from shocking.
Even though the Bruins might be ready to move on from Frederic, that doesn’t mean they’ll struggle to find any potential suitors.
After all, the former Wisconsin Badger is the type of rental forward championship contenders love to add at the deadline. He’s a versatile forward who can play center and wing while also having experience playing on both the power play and penalty kill.
Frederic isn’t afraid of getting physical either, having racked up 623 hits and 147 blocked shots throughout his seven-year career. That’s the type of player who thrives when the physicality increases in the spring.
Speaking of which, the 6-foot-3 veteran also has 22 games of postseason experience under his belt. His five points in 13 outings during the 2023-24 playoffs were tied for the sixth-most on the Bruins and he even led his teammates with a plus-5 plus/minus rating during the run.
NHL insider Elliotte Friedman reported on Dec. 14 that the Bruins are receiving “a lot of calls” regarding Frederic. If teams are willing to overpay for the veteran’s services, Boston general manager Don Sweeney might be open to trade even if qualifying for the postseason is the main goal.
With the NHL trade deadline quickly approaching on Friday, March 7, Frederic might not have many more days left as a Bruin.