It’s easy to forget now, but Trent Frederic began this season as a healthy scratch on opening night. An underwhelming preseason, combined with three healthy scratches last postseason, had raised serious questions about just what kind of role Frederic was going to have in what felt like a make-or-break season for the 24-year-old.
Three months later, Frederic is officially making it. On Thursday night, he had arguably the best game of his career, scoring twice and dropping the gloves once in the Bruins’ 5-2 win over the Kings.
The fight came against Brendan Lemieux in the second period, just after Los Angeles had tied the game at two. The two goals came 34 seconds apart midway through the third and turned a tied game into a 4-2 Boston lead.
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The first was a nice deflection of a Brandon Carlo shot, with Frederic getting rewarded for going to the front of the net. The second was a calm goal-scorer’s finish, as Frederic took a pass from Nick Foligno right in front and flipped a backhander over Pheonix Copley.
This was not just a breakout game. It was the latest strong performance in what has turned into Frederic’s breakout season.
With the two goals Thursday night, Frederic now has nine on the season and has already passed his previous career high. With 16 points, he is two away from matching his career high.
As Frederic does not play on the power play, all of those points have come at 5-on-5 play. He is third on the team in 5-on-5 goals behind only David Pastrnak (14) and Jake DeBrusk (10). He is tied for fourth in 5-on-5 points. Accounting for ice time, Frederic moves up to first in points on a per-minute basis and second in goals. He ranks 14th in the entire NHL in 5-on-5 goals per 60 minutes.
Frederic’s defense, which was usually there even when his offense wasn’t, has been just as strong. His plus-19 plus/minus is second on the team behind only Hampus Lindholm, as is his plus-17 at 5-on-5 play. The only Bruins forwards who have a lower goals against rate at 5-on-5 are Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and Tomas Nosek.
Simply put, good things are happening when Frederic is on the ice, at both ends. He hasn’t just become an everyday player; he’s become a crucial part of what is arguably the best third line in hockey, playing alongside Charlie Coyle and any number of wingers -- at different times this season, it’s been A.J. Greer, Pavel Zacha, Taylor Hall or, most recently, Nick Foligno joining them. Frederic and Coyle have been the constants, though, and the Bruins have outscored opponents 21-7 with them on the ice.
Frederic is skating hard shift-in, shift-out. He’s playing smart. He’s bringing some physicality. And he’s finishing when he gets his chances, showing off a shot that’s been under-utilized in past seasons. His coach, Jim Montgomery, sees his confidence growing.
“I think just his maturity and his trust in his game and getting more opportunities has allowed his confidence to grow,” Montgomery told NESN Thursday night. “He’s just a real good hockey player for us now. I mean, he’s got nine goals and they’re all 5-on-5 goals. That’s not easy to do in this league in the first half of the year.”
Montgomery himself is a big part of this story. Frederic was one of the younger players who didn’t seem to be on the same wavelength as Bruce Cassidy last season. Even with the slightly rocky start leading up to opening night, Frederic credits Montgomery with helping to get the best out of him.
“I’m gonna give a lot of credit to Monty,” Frederic said during his postgame NESN interview. “I think he’s done a great job of kind of letting me play free and just putting confidence in me. He’s been awesome for me and everyone.”
So many discussions about Frederic in the past have centered on him being a first-round pick and whether he should have been. That was almost seven years ago, though, and doesn’t seem to serve much purpose now. It’s time to shift the discussion to Frederic breaking out and emerging as a key part of the best team in the NHL.
All stats via Natural Stat Trick and Evolving-Hockey
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