The Oilers are acquiring forward Trent Frederic from the Bruins in a trade that will also involve the Devils as a third team, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Winger Max Jones is also headed from Boston to Edmonton in the deal, Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports. The Devils announced they’ve acquired the rights to left-wing prospect Shane Lachance from the Oilers and will retain half of Frederic’s salary in the trade after the Bruins’ initial 50% retention, bringing his cap hit for Edmonton down to $575K from $2.3MM. New Jersey also dealt the signing rights to right-winger Petr Hauser to the Oilers to complete their involvement. Edmonton announced the full trade, which reads as follows:
Oilers receive: Frederic, Jones, signing rights to Hauser
Devils receive: Signing rights to Lachance
Bruins receive: D Maximus Wanner, the Blues’ 2025 second-round pick, and the Oilers’ 2026 fourth-round pick.
Frederic is currently week-to-week with a lower-body injury, and Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic reports there’s a possibility he won’t be cleared to play until the playoffs. In that case, the Oilers could place Frederic at his reduced cap hit on long-term injured reserve to open up additional spending flexibility for further moves ahead of Friday’s deadline.
Boston selected Frederic 29th overall in the 2016 draft, ahead of higher-ceiling forwards Alex DeBrincat and Jordan Kyrou who both went in the second round. After a brief but successful two-year collegiate stint at Wisconsin, the versatile depth piece took a couple of years to simmer in the minors, only emerging as a roster regular for the Bruins in the 2020-21 campaign.
Frederic spent a pair of seasons as a fourth-line fixture without much offensive pop, but the physical 6’3″ forward popped big time in Boston’s historic 65-win season in 2022-23. Skating primarily on the wing, he recorded 17-14–31 in 79 games despite averaging under 12 minutes per night, also finishing second among Bruins forwards with 105 hits.
In addition to spending more time down the middle, Frederic amped up his production last season. The Missouri native recorded a career-high 18-22–40 scoring line in 82 games, adding 204 hits while seeing a slight bump in his special teams deployment. But despite skating a career-high 13:55 per game in 2024-25, he hasn’t been able to keep up his scoring. Snakebit like the majority of his Boston teammates, Frederic has just 8-7–15 in 57 games with a career-worst -14 rating. His shooting percentage has regressed to 10.5% after hovering north of the 14% mark the prior two years.
While the drop in point totals is concerning, he’s established his floor as a high-end fourth-line piece with middle-six upside and will likely see an uptick in production depending on how he’s deployed amid a far more talented offensive group in Edmonton. His struggles this season, his expiring contract, and Boston’s slide down the standings made it almost a guarantee he’d be moved at the deadline. The 27-year-old will be an unrestricted free agent for the first time this summer after finishing out the year with the Oilers.
Frederic has posted similar offensive numbers to the Oilers’ current pair of third-line wingers in Connor Brown and Mattias Janmark, so it’s unclear if he’ll unseat either for a top-nine role. While faceoffs aren’t his strong suit (a career average of 44.4%), his experience playing down the middle also addresses an immediate need for an Edmonton squad without a legitimate fourth-line center. He could slot in there once he’s ready to return, relieving natural wingers like Kasperi Kapanen who have had to step into the role lately.
They also pick up Jones, who amounts to a failed offseason pickup for Boston. He managed only seven appearances for the Bs after signing a two-year, $2MM deal last offseason, going without a point and averaging 10:01 per game. Selected a few spots ahead of Frederic by the Ducks in the 2016 draft, Jones will remain on his minor-league assignment after clearing waivers in November but now reports to the Oilers’ affiliate in Bakersfield. His $1MM cap hit is completely buriable in the minors and thus carries no cap impact for Edmonton. Before the move, he posted 13-8–21 with a plus-one rating in 38 games for the P-Bruins.
Rounding out Edmonton’s haul in the deal is Hauser, who New Jersey selected in the fifth round in 2022. The 21-year-old is amid a tumultuous campaign in his native Czechia, playing for three different squads across the top-level and second-tier professional leagues. He has 1-10–11 in 63 Czech Extraliga games dating back to his top-level debut in the 2022-23 season. While he has great size at 6’4″ and 207 lbs, he wasn’t considered a meaningful prospect in the Devils organization by Scott Wheeler of The Athletic in his January ranking. He’s a low-ceiling, low-floor option whose signing rights will expire in June 2026.
The Oilers give up a decently intriguing prospect in Lachance for the Devils’ additional salary retention. The son of ex-NHLer and Devils head scout Scott Lachance was the No. 6 prospect in an already-thin Edmonton system, per Wheeler. The 6’5″ winger has suited up for Boston University the past two seasons after Edmonton selected him in the sixth round in 2021, posting 23-29–52 in 72 games while also serving as captain this season. New Jersey will hold his signing rights until the Aug. 15 following his final collegiate season.
In what’s been a strong rental market, Boston landing what’s slated to be a mid-tier second-round pick is some decent work by general manager Don Sweeney. Edmonton previously acquired the second-rounder from St. Louis as compensation for signing defenseman Philip Broberg to an offer sheet last August. The Bruins didn’t have a second-rounder in this year’s draft before the trade – they traded theirs to the Capitals in the 2023 Dmitry Orlov three-team deal.
Wanner was also one of the Oilers’ more notable prospects, checking in at No. 10 in Wheeler’s rankings. The 6’3″ righty isn’t a legitimate needle-mover for a Bruins pool that lacks high-end talent, though. Now 21, he was a seventh-round pick in the 2021 draft and projects as a likely No. 7/8 option on an NHL depth chart at his peak. He’s been limited to just two points in 22 games with Bakersfield this year after posting 7-10–17 in 68 games with a +13 rating in his first pro season last year. He’ll now report to Providence.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Not a bad get for EDM
Good return for BOS
NJ must have coveted LeChance
Frederic looks like Tarzan plays a bit like Jane. I’m glad to see him out of Boston he’s not the guy they tell us he is.
Edmonton adds some snot (basically grit) to its roster with Frederic. A depth piece in Jones (though he really hasn’t provided much this season). Boston gets some much needed additional draft capital. New Jersey gets a low level prospect in Lachance who they apparently wanted. Actually, all the prospects involved including Hauser & Wanner are all low level but obviously coveted by their respected teams.
Overall seems like a fair trade for all involved teams.
Nice haul for a overrated player that disappears for weeks and doesn’t show up for the playoffs
I like Frederic and the game he plays but the oilers glaring hole is on D. Wanner was a promising young Dman albeit not overly exciting and we ship him off for more forwards. Skinner and arvidsson shoulda stayed Holloway and Broberg and then at least this deal makes more sense.
I dunno, feels like Boston should have gotten more than two mediocre draft picks for a “grit” guy that everyone raves about, even though Freddy is absolutely overrated for what he contributes. I guess they got Jones off the books, so that helps.
I wouldn’t call a 2nd rounder that should fall in the late 50s mediocre
I think getting 2 picks and a prospect for a guy who: 1) is currently injured and may be done for at least the regular season(which likely means done in Boston) and 2) is a UFA you weren’t going to resign in the offseason is a pretty good deal.
This was sarcasm right?
Umm…no and I’ve watched every game of Fredric’s career with the Bruins. Just for my own amusement what exactly do you think they should have gotten for him?
Not worth a mention in the article, but I wanted to throw this trade tree in here:
June 1986 – Bruins acquire Cam Neely + 1987 1st (Glen Wesley) from Canucks for Barry Pederson
August 1994 – BOS trades Wesley to HFD for 1sts in 1995, 1996, 1997 (Kyle McLaren, Johnathan Aitken, Sergei Samsonov)
March 2006 – BOS trades Samsonov to EDM for 2006 2nd (Milan Lucic), Marty Reasoner, Yan Stastny
June 2015 – BOS trades Lucic to LAK for 2015 1st (Jakub Zboril), Martin Jones, Colin Miller
June 2015 – BOS trades Martin Jones to SJS for 2016 1st (Trent Frederic) and Sean Kuraly
Now Frederic traded today
Hah, blessings upon you, Josh, I love trade trees. Let me contribute something I put onto a now-defunct hockey writers site many years ago:
In 1953, the Bruins sign Doug Mohns. Very solid player, gives them eleven good seasons, before they trade him to Chicago for Reggie Fleming and Ab McDonald.
Fleming gives them a good year and a half before he’s dealt to the Rangers for Johnny McKenzie, one of Boston’s stars in the late 60s/early 70s.
McDonald was traded in 1965 with a couple of journeymen to Detroit for Bob Dillabough, Ron Harris, Albert Langlois and Parker MacDonald. MacDonald only plays a half year before being traded to Detroit for Pit Martin.
Well, Martin’s a pretty good player, and gives Boston two good years before being the centerpiece of a trade to the Black Hawks for three guys named Esposito, Hodge and Stanfield.
Anyway, after six fine seasons, a lot of shattered records, and two Stanley Cups, Stanfield’s the first to go, traded to the Minnesota North Stars for goalie Gilles Gilbert, who’s Boston’s starter for most of the next seven seasons. Gilbert himself is dealt in 1980 for the last two seasons of Hall of Famer Rogie Vachon’s career.
We all know what Phil Esposito did for Boston before he was dealt with Carol Vadnais in the middle of the 1976 season for two guys named Ratelle and Park. The great Jean Ratelle retired after six starring seasons for Boston, while Brad Park was with the Bruins for eight years before signing with Detroit as a free agent.
One final thread: at his request (Espo wanted to reconstitute the gang), Hodge was traded to the Rangers at the end of the 1976 season. Hodge played only one more full season in New York, and the Bruins got 12 seasons and 900 pts out of Rick Middleton for it.
So. Signing Doug Mohns got them 35 years, 9 seasons of solid goaltending, over 4000 skater games, 1500 goals, over 2200 assists, four Hall of Famers, 12 All-Star Team nods, 22 trophy finalists, 5 Rosses, 2 Harts, 3 Byngs, and two Stanley Cups. Not a bad signing.
Oilers add a tough player to their lineup, provided he can actually play this season.