The Edmonton Oilers are visiting the Boston Bruins for tonight’s game, the former team of Trent Frederic – who’s looking to be a complete failed signing for the Oilers.
The Oilers paid a huge price to acquire Frederic at the 2024 trade deadline, then doubled down with an 8-year, $30.8M contract in the offseason. Through the playoffs and the first 34 games this year, he’s been nothing more than a 4th liner.
Edmonton Oilers need to consider buyout for Trent Frederic this offseason
So far this season, Frederic’s really brought nothing to the team. He’s got 3 points in 34 games, and isn’t making up for the lack of offence with anything else. The physical play he had a reputation for has evaporated entirely, and he’s become a defensive liability too.
Nearing the mid-point of this season, Coach Knoblauch has fully admitted Frederic hasn’t found a role in Edmonton yet – and potentially never will.
Sometimes it takes two weeks, sometimes it takes two months, sometimes it doesn’t ever happen. It takes a while.
We’ve seen it in the past with players that are coming into Edmonton, and it just never fit. Obviously we’re committed to Trent, think he’s a good player, and we need to find him a spot where he can help us win.
The Oilers still have some moves they can make to try to get more out of Frederic. Healthy scratching him should be an option as a wake-up call, but how much will that help for the next 7 years is another question.
At the end of the day, the Oilers are looking at a boat-anchor contract for $3.85M on their books in their Stanley Cup window. For that reason, they need to explore all options – including a potential buyout.
If Frederic doesn’t show any signs of improvement for the rest of this season and in the playoffs, a buyout should be considered to save valuable cap dollars in these critical years with McDavid signed.
According to PuckPedia, a buyout for Frederic would stretch on for 14 seasons, until the 2039-40 season. It would provide them immediate cap savings of just under $2M for the 7 seasons, and then the Oilers would be on the hook for $821K for another 7 years.
It’s an extremely costly decision, but Frederic’s contract is already taking away possibilities for the Oilers to add this season. It’d be hard to payout Frederic 14 years from now, but no one would care if it helped the Oilers free up money to add a critical player on the way to a Stanley Cup win.
With the coach admitting there’s no fit for Frederic and the Oilers in an urgent win-now window, a buyout for Frederic should actually be a consideration for the Oilers.