Trent Frederic signed an eight-year, $30.8 million contract with the Edmonton Oilers on Friday. It has an average annual value of $3.85 million.
The 27-year-old forward had 15 points (eight goals, seven assists) in 58 regular-season games for the Oilers and Boston Bruins this season, playing all but one of those games prior to being acquired by the Oilers in a trade on March 4.
Frederic had four points (one goal, three assists) in 22 Stanley Cup Playoff games to help Edmonton reach the Cup Final, where they lost to the Florida Panthers in six games. He could have become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.
“Talking to my agent and negotiating,” Frederic said Friday, “that was something that I wanted, to be in one spot, and I just think this group gives me the best chance at winning the ultimate prize and hopefully I’ll have eight chances at it and that was basically my thought process and how it all went through.
“I think I’ve said it before, playing in Edmonton and playing at Rogers Place as a hockey player, playing hockey is my No. 1 thing in life and that’s what I love to do and I am fortunate enough that I get to do it for a living and playing in front of all the fans in Edmonton and to play at Rogers Place and to see the buzz around the city. I’m very excited it’s a hockey heaven and it’s everything you can dream as a hockey player. I believe we’re going to have a great team, I’m going to get more experiences and get a chance to win it all.
“Playing there it’s incredible, walking out after the doors open [to the ice], it’s a very cool feeling.”
Selected by Boston in the first round (No. 29) of the 2016 NHL Draft, Frederic has 109 points (55 goals, 54 assists) in 338 regular-season games for the Bruins and Oilers and nine points (four goals, five assists) in 44 playoff games.
Frederic said rehabbing an ankle injury at the time of the trade gave him some valuable insight on his new team that he might not have had if he were healthy.
“Right away being injured, it was different,” he said. “Normally when you get traded you would just hop in and get integrated with all the guys, but I was actually integrated with the whole staff first, and I was impressed by that.
“You can feel when you have a good staff, the way they treat people and the way the treat each other, you just knew there was something special here and the more I got to hang out with the guys we knew that (general manager) Stan (Bowman) and (Oilers president Jeff Jackson), they care about character and having good people in there and that’s something I want to be a part of.”
NHL.com staff writer Derek Van Diest contributed to this report
