When Trent Frederic joined the Edmonton Oilers in the first week of March 2025, he had already missed his last three games with the Bruins. After reaching a career-high 40-point season with the Bruins in 2024, Frederic managed to score only eight goals and seven assists after 57 games with Boston during the 2024-25 regular season. “I had a lot of mixed emotions (on the trade),” Frederic told the media.

The 27-year-old NHL forward could feel something was coming in the weeks leading up to the trade. “I had a feeling, I could see the writing on the wall,” added the forward. However, he also expressed excitement about joining the Oilers. “I think this team and this group has a good chance of taking a run at it,” Frederic said about the Oilers’ Stanley Cup prospects, and he was right.

The Bruins ended their dismal NHL season as the 5th-worst team this year. Meanwhile, Frederic found himself in the Stanley Cup Final, and despite losing, it looks like he’s going to be the first one to land a contract with the Edmonton Oilers in the $30 million ballpark. “Don’t expect the #Oilers to announce a deal in the near future as they’re engaging in talks with other current roster players,” wrote Frank Seravalli.

“But as has been speculated, expect Trent Frederic’s next deal to come in at 8 years and north of $3.5m but south of $4m in AAV,” the NHL insider added. While the Daily Faceoff writer didn’t give the exact number, meeting in the middle between $3.5 and $4 will put Trent Frederic’s AAV somewhere between $3.7 and $3.8 million, which translates to just below or above the $30 million mark.

The Bruins trading their captain, Brad Marchand, to the Florida Panthers turned out to be the ultimate blessing for the 16-season NHL veteran. While the 27-year-old didn’t have it as good as his former captain, the hockey center finds himself on solid ground. Unfortunately, the Edmonton Oilers fans had a very strong reaction to the news, and not in a good way.

Edmonton Oilers fans lambast the team’s first move after a brutal loss

The first thing that may have worked against the Trent Frederic contract hint was the bad timing. While even the champions, the Florida Panthers, are already feeling the weight of the dilemma of retaining Brad Marchand, Sam Bennett, and Aaron Ekblad with their limited salary cap, Edmonton Oilers fans are still licking their wounds. But timing is far from the only issue here.

Unlike his former captain, Brad Marchand, who became the only man since Mario Lemieux to score five goals in multiple Stanley Cup Finals in the last 59 years, Trent Frederic didn’t make a splash. “This is why Canadian teams haven’t won in 32 years. Giving stupid a– contracts like this out to players who don’t move the needle,” commented one fan.

While that sounds harsh, the fan wasn’t wrong about Frederic not making a significant impact. Frederic’s bad form continued to plague him during the playoffs, with the NHL center scoring just one goal and three assists in 22 playoff games with the Edmonton Oilers. What’s more? His solo goal came against the LA Kings, in the middle of Edmonton’s six-game win streak.

Even Edmonton Journal writer Jim Matheson agreed with the fans’ assessment of the former Bruin’s form. “Question is price point. He did not have productive playoff at all with four points but he still figures as third-line forward. He is not top 6,” commented the NHL reporter who has 40 years of experience. Meanwhile, some didn’t seem to mind the projected contract value, but rather the duration of that contract.

“Money is fine, the thing that shakes my head is the term. Please tell me Bowman didn’t do the NTC with him, lol!” commented one fan. More than the cap hit, the fan was worried about how locking the 27-year-old in a No-Movement Clause contract would affect the Edmonton Oilers moving forward. Another fan wondered the same thing.

“Oilers managers are so f—-d. Did they make this deal on the flight back to Edmonton? In what universe do you give a player like him max term with an NMC as your first move into the off-season?” the hockey enthusiast asked. However, we don’t know if the Oilers have locked in the NMC contract yet. “Frederick is staying, and we’ll see what they do around him,” added Elliotte Friedman.

However, others were definitely worried about the contract value. “This is an absolutely wild contract to me. You’re a cap-strapped team heading into the offseason needing to sign a $10 mil+ d-man (Evan Bouchard) and save money for a McDavid extension, and your first move is to blow all your bottom 6 cap space on a guy who was awful all playoffs for 8 YEARS!” commented one Edmonton Oilers fan.

CapWages put those worries into perspective. “Assuming the #Oilers sign Frederic at ~3.8M, this is what their cap space looks like,” commented the page. The graph showed the Oilers taking an $86,785,000 cap hit, with $8,715,000 of cap space remaining. However, that changed when factoring in the other stars, including superstars like Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Bouchard.

“And what it could look like if they re-signed all their free agents (particularly Bouchard). Even if they give away Kane, they have some work to do,” added CapWages. The second slide showed that the Oilers would get a cap hit of $107,063,629, exceeding the limit by $11,563,629. Now that’s something the Edmonton Oilers can’t afford. So, what do you think of the Oilers’ latest contract decision? Tell us your views in the comments.