Boston Bruins center Charlie Coyle’s mentoring of teammate Trent Frederic is paying off in spades right now as Frederic is realizing his potential. The 6-foot-3, 220-pound, 25-year-old forward has five goals and an assist in his last four games and is trending towards becoming the power forward Coyle, the Bruins and others believed he could be.
There have likely been plenty of people on and off the ice that have helped Boston Bruins forward Trent Frederic get to this point in his career. Family, friends, coaches, and teammates all play a role in the maturation of a pro hockey player and athlete. One of the more recent influences on Frederic’s current success and emergence as a budding power forward in the NHL is Coyle. Back in November, my colleague and Boston Hockey Now columnist Mick Colageo wrote about Coyle being the leader without a letter for the Bruins and spoke to Frederic on the topic.
“I would say so, yeah,” Frederic agreed after scoring a goal and adding an assist while skating on a line with Coyle in a 5-2 win over the New York Islanders on Nov. 9. “He’s always a very positive guy. He always comes to what I call work. He’s very professional, and he’s just a really good guy. He’s been really good to me, and he’s helped me get to where I am today.”
Fast-forward to this past Saturday night after Frederic scored two goals in a 7-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning at TD Garden, and Frederic was expressing his gratitude for Coyle’s mentorship once again.
“I think last year, the reason I was successful is because of Charlie and ‘Hallsy’ [former Bruins winger Taylor Hall] and the great team we had,” Frederic said. “If it wasn’t for ‘CC’ and ‘Hallsy’ making great plays last year, I don’t know if I have the confidence to do it this year with different people. I mean, Charlie’s helped me a lot throughout the last however many years. He’s always kind of vouched for me and helped me out.”
When asked about Frderic’s recent success, the 31-year-old Coyle was beaming with excitement for Frederic.
“You can see his growth every year that he’s played here,” Coyle told reporters. “He’s such an important piece of our team. What he brings, he can play kind of any type of game. He’s got the skill, he’s got the work ethic, the grit. Those are the guys you want on your team, and I think any team would want a guy like Trent. For him to build the confidence and see more pucks go in the net for him and contribute that way, it’s always been in there, but I think he’s really starting to hone in on getting those opportunities, and he’s cashing in on them.
It’s a great thing to see a guy who works like that, just a good team-first guy and just a solid human being. He’s such a good guy. Yeah, we’re pretty close, but I think everybody’s pretty close to Trent. He’s one of those people you kind of gravitate to. It’s good to see those types of people have success.”
Speaking in a casual convo with yours truly after the Bruins final media availability of the 2022-23 season, Coyle agreed with yours truly that Frederic would become a bonafide power forward if he could stick to what got him to the NHL and caused the Bruins to draft him 29th overall at the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.
“No doubt. He’s a beast and a force if he wants to be,” Coyle said. “He can be that modern power forward and maybe even a throwback if he wants it, and I want to help him get there.”
So far, the Bruins’ ‘leader without a leader’ is doing just that, and Frederic is doing his part as well.
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