Trading Frederic is the first sell-off by the Bruins, who are three-quarters of the way through an underachieving season but remain among the playoff contenders vying for the final couple of spots in the Eastern Conference. Captain Brad Marchand, like Frederic, is a pending unrestricted free agent, though he has said he would like to play his entire career with Boston and also was injured last weekend and is considered week to week.
Getting Frederic, 27, provides Edmonton some much-needed toughness with the aim of helping Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and company make another long playoff run this spring, a year after reaching Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final and losing to Florida. Frederic, also week to week with a lower-body injury after getting hurt Feb. 25 against Toronto, has 15 points and 44 penalty minutes in 57 games this season.
In addition to adding Frederic at a bargain cap hit of $575,000 — under the league minimum — the Oilers also got depth forward Max Jones in this deal. Jones is a veteran of 265 NHL games, mostly with Anaheim, and got into seven this year with Boston while spending most of his time in the minors with the Providence Bruins of the American Hockey League.
The deadline is Friday at 3 p.m. EST. Mikko Rantanen, already traded once from Colorado to Carolina as part of a three-team deal in late January, is among the big-name stars who could move, along with Brock Nelson of the New York Islanders and any number of players from the Pittsburgh Penguins and cross-state rival Philadelphia Flyers.
San Jose coach Ryan Warsofsky said goaltender Vitek Vanecek was being held out of the Sharks' game Tuesday night in Buffalo “for trade purposes.” The New York Rangers have done the same with another pending UFA, winger Reilly Smith.
One player who seemingly now will not be on the move is Jake Evans, who signed a four-year, $11.4 million contract extension to remain with the Montreal Canadiens beyond this season. The reigning Cup champion Panthers, who already made one blockbuster acquisition by getting top-pairing defenseman Seth Jones from Chicago, also extended forward Jesper Boqvist for $3 million total through 2027.
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AP Hockey Writer John Wawrow in Buffalo, New York, contributed.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Credit: AP
Credit: AP