There are many ways you could describe Trent Frederic as a player. Tough. Physical. Willing to drop the gloves. Good shot. Good skater for his size. Smart defensively. Positionally versatile. Occasional trash-talker.
Power-play weapon would not make the list. Before Saturday night, Trent Frederic had played just 30 minutes total on the man advantage in his career, and had never registered a power-play point.
With the way Frederic has been playing recently, however, everything seems to be on the table. In Saturday's 7-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning, that included more power-play time and his first career power-play goal.
It came 4:42 into the game, after the Lightning took an early 1-0 lead. With James van Riemsdyk out, coach Jim Montgomery opted to use Frederic in the net-front role on the second power-play unit. The decision immediately paid off.
As the power play wound down, Kevin Shattenkirk fed the puck down to Frederic at the top of the crease. Looking as smooth as the veteran van Riemsdyk, who has made a living in that spot, Frederic pulled the puck to his forehand and flipped it past Andrei Vasilevskiy.
"It's just his athletic ability, and he can finish. He's got great hands, and he's a big body," Montgomery said of the thinking behind giving Frederic a power-play look. "The reason I think he can continue to finish is he's putting himself in situations to score and he's not deferring anymore. He's taking charge."
Frederic has been taking charge more and more, and he's been playing the best hockey of his career – really all season, but especially recently. He scored a second goal on Saturday early in the second period to give Boston a 3-1 lead. After collecting the puck off a blocked shot, Frederic tried to center for linemate Danton Heinen, only to have it blocked right back to him for a tap-in finish. He also had a hand in the Bruins' second goal, taking a big hit in the neutral zone to move the puck and then going to the front of the net to set a screen for Charlie McAvoy.
Frederic now has five goals in the last four games and eight points in the last seven. He is a plus-8 in those seven games. He has done it while sometimes playing wing and sometimes playing center. He has done it with several different combinations of linemates, including Georgii Merkulov in the rookie center's first two NHL games.
Van Riemsdyk had been something of a regular linemate, but he was out Saturday with an undisclosed injury. Frederic had Matt Poitras, in his first game back from World Juniors, as his center Saturday, with Heinen on the opposite wing.
This is perhaps the most important part of the season Frederic is having: He is producing wherever and with whomever Montgomery puts him.
Frederic had a breakout season last year, finishing with a career-high 17 goals and 31 points. He did that while mostly playing on a third line with Charlie Coyle and Taylor Hall, two players most teams can only dream about having on their third line.
The Bruins don't have either of them on their third line this year. Hall had to be traded away because of Boston's salary cap crunch. Coyle had to be moved up in the lineup because of the retirements of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci.
Frederic has mostly remained on the third line. It was fair to wonder if he would be able to produce at the same rate without Coyle and Hall next to him. It was fair to wonder if he would be able to help drive a line and elevate his linemates the way Coyle and Hall elevated him.
Montgomery acknowledged this week that even he had those questions.
"Didn't know. Thought he had the capabilities, but didn't know if he was gonna grab it," he said.
Frederic has grabbed it. He isn't just matching his production from last season; he's on pace to blow past it. With 12 goals and 21 points in 38 games, Frederic is on pace for 26 goals and 45 points.
Because Frederic rarely plays on the power play – until Saturday night, at least – almost all of his damage has come at 5-on-5, where he has been one of the Bruins' most productive players. His 11 5-on-5 goals this season are one behind David Pastrnak for the team lead. His 19 5-on-5 points are third behind Pastrnak and Coyle. His 1.40 goals per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 rank 18th in the entire NHL.
"I think his confidence has increased, his poise with the puck, and he's got tremendous hands," Montgomery said. "In practice, he scores more than anyone except for Pasta. So, I think it's coming, like the kind of player he is. He's got to keep just being really focused on his habits and details and moving his feet. He's doing those things, I expect him to keep scoring like he is."
Frederic credited his time spent with Coyle and Hall last season as a big reason he's been able to be more confident this season.
"I think last year, the reason I was successful is because of Charlie and Hallsy 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."
Coyle and Frederic have still played together at times this year, and had a good amount of success earlier in the season when the two of them and van Riemsdyk were on a line. But they've been on separate lines for a little while now, and are both producing apart from each other.
Coyle couldn't be happier to see his friend and former linemate rolling like this – both because of the work he's seen Frederic put in on the ice, and because of the person he's seen off it.
"You can see his growth every year that he's played here," Coyle said of Frederic. "…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."
