We’ve long called for Trent Frederic to be added to the Boston Bruins bottom-six and it could soon happen.
Trent Frederic being added to the expanded Boston Bruins roster for training camp means that Bruce Cassidy will be able to take a good hard look at what he can bring to the table.
We all know that he can bring aggression, physicality and all those fundamental traits that at one time were the epitome of a Boston player.
Whether or not the image that Trent Frederic has built his game around fits into the present-day line-up is a much bigger question. It’ll be up to him to change the minds of those that have their doubts.
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Obviously he comes with first round pedigree, albeit falling to the Boston Bruins 29th overall in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. He excels as rather feisty center in Providence, but hasn’t exactly put up remarkable point totals.
He has now played 17 NHL games and although the large majority limited his ice-time somewhat, he has yet to get off the mark with either a goal or an assist.
This past campaign in the AHL he only scored 8 times in 59 games, so he’s definitely bottom-line potential at best.
Perhaps the biggest concern has to be a statistic that has increased year-on-year since debuting in Providence; his penalty minutes – in the suspended campaign, he was already at 148 penalty minutes.
Given the ability of NHL teams to capitalise on a power-play chance, Trent Frederic may be holding himself back from a spot in the Boston line-up by virtue of being too aggressive.
Just for comparison sake, the penalty minutes leader on the Boston Bruins this year was Brad Marchand with just 82 minutes in the box; even he’s going to have to behave this post-season. That’s a pretty big statement of how much Trent Frederic will need to tone down his game.
Obviously, we haven’t factored in that the AHL is a more physical affair and Frederic was seeing more ice-time in Providence than he’d expect with the Boston Bruins, but the point still stands.
The chance is most definitely there for him to seize; there’s certainly an opportunity to slot in as a low-cost fourth-line center if he can make the most of it.