Edmonton Oilers News

Home

Quizzes

Newsletter

Edmonton Oilers Trent Frederic Perry Nelson-Imagn Images

The best is yet to come for Trent Frederic: 2024-25 Edmonton Oilers player review

Originally posted on Oilersnation | By Zach Laing | Last updated Jul 15, 2025 9:00 AM ET

Welcome to my annual player review series, where I dive into the Edmonton Oilers season player-by-player. We’ll look back at the season that was, what kind of impact each player had, and what we could see from them next season. You can read about the analytics behind my analysis here.

Via The Nation Network

It’s hard to get an exact read as to how Trent Frederic fits into this Edmonton Oilers team.

After all, when the Edmonton Oilers acquired him ahead of the trade deadline, he was already dealing with a sprained ankle. It kept him out of the lineup until he returned for one game against the Los Angeles Kings, only for him to reaggravate it and miss the remainder of the regular season. While he drew in for all 22 of the Oilers’ playoff games, it was apparent he wasn’t at 100 percent.

He was undoubtedly a big physical presence laying 85 hits, third on the team in hits per hour behind Vasily Podkolzin and Zach Hyman, and generated a solid amount of high-quality looks, he struggled to capitalize. His one goal and four points were undoubtedly less than what many hoped, but the 1.2 goals against per hour with him on the ice was the lowest of any regular in the lineup.

That’s a great sign, and while some of the other defensive metrics weren’t as solid as could’ve been, he was a plus-player for the Oilers.

His individual impacts from his time in Boston this season give reason to believe there’s much more to this player. He drove offence at a six percent rate above league average and defence at a two percent rate below league average, with his overall impacts equivalent to a high-end second-line player.

There was undoubtedly some sticker shock from Oilers fans when it was announced he signed an eight-year deal carrying a $3.85-million cap hit, but this signing is different than many of the other long-term deals power forwards in their late 20s have signed over the years. For one, as I detailed after the signing, the deal is actually fairly low-risk for the Oilers. There’s trade protection that shifts from a no-movement clause in the first four years, opening to a 10-team trade list in the fifth year and a 20-team trade list in the final three.

On top of that, if for some reason things blow up, the cost to buyout his contract doesn’t come with a massive financial hit against the Oilers.

Frederic wants to be in Edmonton, and with Evander Kane getting traded to the Vancouver Canucks, he will help fill the power forward void in the Oilers forward ranks.