Oilers' acquisition of Frederic, Jones moves to add size at forward: TSN analysts

Boston Bruins' Trent Frederic during NHL action on Nov. 2, 2024, in Philadelphia. (Matt Slocum/AP)

Trent Frederic is coming to town to address a glaring need: the Edmonton Oilers' physicality up front, say hockey analysts at TSN.

The Oilers acquired the 6-foot-3, 221-lb. forward from the Boston Bruins, as well as depth centre Max Jones, on Tuesday morning in a three-way deal that also involved the New Jersey Devils.

Leaving the Oilers organization are prospects Shane Lachance, a forward, and Maximus Wanner, a defenceman, along with the St. Louis Blues' second-round pick at the 2025 NHL draft and a 2026 fourth-rounder.

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The Blues' pick had been acquired by Edmonton as compensation for losing defenceman Philip Broberg to a St. Louis offer sheet last summer.

Button said on a TSN broadcast Tuesday that the Oilers receive “harder players, heavier players” in Frederic – a centre/winger who is “a bear to play against (and) no fun for any opponent to match up against,” Button said – and Jones, who also stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 215 lb.

“When you’re looking at playoff success, this is something the Edmonton Oilers learned last year losing to the Florida Panthers (in the Stanley Cup final),” Button said.

“It’s who can go the hardest the longest.”

TSN’s Edmonton-based correspondant Ryan Rishaug also called Frederic “the physical presence that the Oilers have been lacking ... (and if) he can be the type of playoff contributor that they hope that style of player will bring them,” particularly in the absence of Evander Kane, who hasn’t played all season following several surgeries to address injuries suffered last campaign.

Rishaug said the key for Oilers general manager Stan Bowman making the trade was the ability of Edmonton to be on the financial hook for just 50 per cent of Frederic’s salary – to the tune of $575,000 – with both the Bruins and Devils retaining the rest of it.

That Frederic is injured – considered week-to-week after missing the last three Bruins games – also works in the Oilers' financial favour, Rishaug said, with the team close to the salary cap. The 27-year-old was placed on injured reserve Tuesday by the Bruins before the trade was announced.

“They did have to pay pretty reasonable price to do this in a couple of middle-of-the-way prospects within the organization, but also that second-round pick,” Rishaug said during a TSN broadcast on Tuesday.

“That is what it took to get this salary cut in half.”

Frederic, a St. Louis native and a first-round pick by the Bruins in 2016 (29th overall), has scored eight goals and seven assists in 57 games played this season along with 155 hits and 44 penalty minutes. In his previous two seasons, Frederic scored 17 and 18 goals for Boston.

Jones, also 27 and a former first-round pick (24th overall) of the Anaheim Ducks, has played in seven Bruins games in 2024-25 and has spent the bulk of the campaign in the American Hockey League.

Pickard gets 2nd start in a row

Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said goalie Calvin Pickard will start in net Tuesday night (7 p.m.) against the visiting Anaheim Ducks.

Pickard made 35 saves in the Oilers' previous outing, a 3-1 road win on Saturday over the Carolina Hurricanes that ended a five-game losing skid by Edmonton.

Knoblauch said after the team’s morning skate Pickard getting the nod was “not a slight” on starter Stuart Skinner, instead a “reward” for backup Pickard.

“He’s been playing extremely well and being able to win games, so we felt that it was right that he got the start today,” Knoblauch told media.

Savoie in, Jeff Skinner out

Forward Matt Savoie will see his first regular-season home action for the Oilers, drawing into the lineup in favour of Jeff Skinner to play alongside centre Leon Draisaitl and right-winger Viktor Arvidsson.

Savoie, 21, made his National Hockey League debut on Feb. 22, at the start of the Oilers' five-game road trip following the 4 Nations Face-Off break, recording an assist on a Draisaitl goal in a losing effort against the Philadelphia Flyers.

The St. Albert native, who scored 13 goals and 24 assists in 45 games in AHL Bakersfield before being called up to the Oilers, played the next two games of the trip before sitting out Edmonton’s games in Florida and Carolina.

Knoblauch said inserting Savoie into the lineup is about “fitting what our team needs.”

“Savoie had a couple good games, had some chances, adds a little speed to our lineup, which I think is important for our team,” Knoblauch said.

Savoie was acquired by the Oilers in a July trade that sent centre Ryan McLeod and prospect Tyler Tullio to the Buffalo Sabres.

The Oilers signed Skinner, who has scored 368 career goals in 1,059 NHL games, to a one-year, $3-million contract last summer, ostensibly to play among the team’s top-six forwards.

The 32-year-old winger, who has been a healthy scratch at times this season, has scored 11 goals and 10 assists in 53 games this season.