The Boston Bruins have a couple players who could potentially be moved before Friday's 3 p.m. ET NHL trade deadline, and one of them is Trent Frederic.
The 27-year-old forward is in the final year of his contract and able to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer. If the Bruins aren't able to work out an extension with Frederic in the coming days, it would make sense to trade him and not risk him leaving for nothing in free agency.
Frederic is not playing right now. He picked up a lower body injury in a loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Feb. 25, and the Bruins have officially labeled him as week-to-week. The injury hasn't prevented Frederic from being the subject of recent trade rumors, though.
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What's the latest on Frederic's status on the trade market?
"I think Frederic does get moved," Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman said on the latest episode of the 32 Thoughts podcast published Monday morning. "Even though he's hurt ... it's not something that's going to prevent him from playing when it matters. I think he gets moved."
The Athletic's Chris Johnston and Pierre LeBrun posted trade deadline updates for each team Monday, and in regards to Frederic, they wrote "there’s a belief the injured forward will be dealt in the days ahead."
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It will be interesting to see how the injury impacts Frederic's value, especially if he's not going to return in the immediate future.
Before the injury, the best-case scenario for the Bruins was probably getting a second-round pick for Frederic. Will they have to settle for a third-rounder now?
Frederic definitely has value. When healthy, he's a productive third-line player who can provide valuable scoring depth, versatility (can play center or wing), plenty of toughness and penalty killing. He's the kind of bottom-six upgrade contending teams are often pursuing at the trade deadline.
Overall, Frederic has not played well this season. He has scored eight goals with seven assists in 57 games, which is well below his production from last season when he tallied a career-high 40 points (18 goals, 22 assists) in 82 games.
Maybe a change of scenery and the excitement of a playoff run could help Frederic find his game again.