The Bruins Need More out of Trent Frederic
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I suppose I should start this opinion piece out by saying…WE’RE ALIVE! Silent…but alive.
It’s been a crazy eight months of life - Diehards kept growing at a time where external responsibilities continued to inflate. The last eight months have been a much needed reset from what has been 2-years of utter chaos that we have all globally and collectively experienced. And as we slowly trickle-in with some more content here at Diehards, a goal is to maintain a bit more of what it was back in 2012 when Diehards was originally established - from the fans, and for the fans.
With that said, I think back to all of the incredible contributors who joined Diehards in recent years. Writers, editors, podcast hosts, our YouTube content, Crae Messer who single-handedly designed all digital media content and the website from scratch, and both Court LaLonde and SpokedZ who ran the ship and picked-up all the slack when things got really busy. I remain appreciative of everyone’s contributions and am overjoyed to see everyone CRUSHING it out there.
STORY TIME
There’s a lot of talking points from the absolute thumping that the Carolina Hurricanes laid-on the Boston Bruins in Game 1. It’s important to not overreact - it is Game 1 after all. It’s not the first and certainly won’t be the last underwhelming performances the Bruins will have in the postseason - that being said, there are some clear growth opportunities in the Bruins game that need to be addressed as soon as possible - otherwise, the Bruins can expect an early exit in the playoffs. One of the areas that needs addressing is Trent Frederic’s contributions.
This is not a hit-piece or a narrative that blames Frederic for losing 5-1, that being said, it’s more of a suggestion of a tiny piece to the puzzle and an element that can strongly influence the Bruins workflow throughout games. Physicality. Which, I suppose it could be considered a '“hit-piece”, as a lot of my feedback surrounds Frederic’s dedication to playing more physical.
Trent Frederic made a name for himself after the Bruins 2016 first-round pick displayed willingness to initiate physicality, even in meaningless games, while also being willing to drop the gloves with the likes of Tom Wilson and others - all this around a time where Bruins fans were desperate for any variation of a power forward/grinder/enforcer. After the departures of Milan Lucic and Shawn Thornton, Matt Beleskey wasn’t a suitable candidate. David Backes wasn’t a suitable candidate. Nick Ritchie wasn’t a suitable candidate. As you look up and down the current lineup, your only option to ignite physicality and intimidate your opponent is either Josh Brown, who’s a depth 7th-defenseman who will be brought in based on potential injuries, or Trent Frederic.
The message needs to be clear: play to your strengths. And despite Frederic having a career-high 18-points in 60 games this season, those stats are not indicative of offensive-finesse being a strength to Frederic’s game. His physicality and intimidation could be a difference maker for the Bruins - he just has to use it consistently if he wants to make an impact this postseason.