The Oilers and Trent Frederic should agree to a contract extension

Speculation began to swirl over the weekend about the future of Trent Frederic in Edmonton.

The gritty forward was one of the team’s major additions ahead of the 2025 NHL trade deadline. The Oilers dealt prospects Max Wanner and Shane Lanchance, along with a couple of draft picks, to the Boston Bruins in exchange for Frederic and Max Jones. 

This comes from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, who reported such on Saturday’s 32 Thoughts podcast.

“One of the things that’s being rumoured around here is that Trent Frederic might be sticking around,” said Friedman. “I can’t imagine we’re going to find out during the final — they got more important things to worry about, but that was something I heard in and around the building tonight.”

There’s no denying that Frederic has struggled offensively since the trade. He has only one goal, which was scored in Game 6 versus the Los Angeles Kings in the first round. He also has a trio of assists that have come in his 19 playoff games. We all wanted more. The ankle injury has plagued him for most of this run.

Never an ideal situation when you acquire a player with an injury. However, the Oilers believed he would return sooner than he did, and the reaggravation against the Kings in the regular season was unfortunate. He certainly hasn’t lived up to expectations, but playing every game in this playoffs so far should speak volumes to how the coaching staff views him.

If he re-signs in Edmonton, he’ll get more opportunities next season. With limited practice time available, it’s no surprise he hasn’t found his way onto either special teams unit or climbed higher up the lineup. The penalty kill was never part of his role in Boston, but he was a regular on the power play, playing almost a minute a night. The power play personnel in Edmonton is different from what the Bruins have, but still an opportunity to find extra minutes on the second unit.

Edmonton has just under $12 million in cap space to work with this summer. Frederic is one of five Oilers forwards, Corey Perry, Jeff Skinner, Connor Brown, and Kasperi Kapanen, who are pending UFAs this summer. Then they have John Klingberg and Evan Bouchard on the backend.  Bouchard is expected to be pricey, potentially costing $10 million annually, while everyone else will be at a reasonable cost.

Perry has stated that he has no plans to retire and, by all accounts, is loved by the Oilers’ leadership group. Safe to assume he returns. Kris Knoblauch mentioned post Game 1 that the team tried to sign Kapanen last summer, so, again, it’s fair to think he stays in Edmonton too. That leaves Brown and Skinner. Brown took a discounted price the previous off-season because of how poorly the season went for him. Is he willing to take a pay cut again to stay? As for Skinner, it’s too bad things didn’t work out in Edmonton. The potential seemed to be there, but the staff didn’t share the same enthusiasm. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Klingberg leave this summer, too.

There’s also a way to create more cap space if Stan Bowman can move on from either Viktor Arvidsson or Adam Henrique this summer. Arvidsson is the more likely option. Like Frederic, the season didn’t go as planned for Arvidsson, who now finds himself as a healthy scratch heading into Game 4 versus the Panthers. It probably won’t take much convincing to get him to open up his no-trade clause.

AFP Analytics has Frederic’s next contract projected at $4.1 million annually for four years. David Pagnotta, from the Fourth Period, speculated on Oilersnation Everyday that it could come in at a lower price, especially if it’s a shorter-term deal.

Another layer that needs to be considered is that Frederic is only 27. He hasn’t played 400 games in the NHL yet, but he has two 15+ goal seasons, which were scored mainly at 5-on-5. He can become a Frederic replacement in a year on your third line, while also taking shifts alongside Leon Draisaitl in the top six. You experimented last summer, signing Arvidsson and Skinner, which didn’t work. Now you have a player you’ve had time to understand and know where he can improve. If the team sees him as a positive asset, then why go out and shop for his replacement? Keep what you already have and save yourself a negotiation this summer.