The start to Trent Frederic’s time as an Edmonton Oiler has not gone well, to say the least. An underwhelming 2025 postseason has carried into the 2025–26 regular season, and fans are already questioning the decision to extend him long-term.
That being said, even with his production and overall play lacking, many were surprised to see Frederic healthy scratched on Wednesday for a typically heated and physical rivalry game in Calgary against the Flames—the type of game they brought him to Edmonton for. However, after dissecting some of the events from Tuesday night’s game against Toronto, it seems quite clear that HC Kris Knoblauch was sending him a message, in part because of one particular sequence.
Oilers reporter David Staples pointed out the play where Connor McDavid takes a pass from Frederic before getting hit by Brandon Carlo. Frederic not only makes a somewhat reckless pass to his captain, but he then skates away without going after Carlo, forcing Darnell Nurse to step in and handle the situation. It’s not hard to connect the dots and wonder if that’s why he sat on Wednesday.
It should be noted that Frederic appeared to think that Bobby McMann was the one who delivered the hit, though it’s still not a great look either way.
The 27-year-old has been limited to just three points (two goals, one assist) across 55 games in 2025–26. He’s in year one of the eight-year, $30.8 million extension signed this past summer after being acquired in a trade from the Bruins at last year’s deadline.
Was There Even More to the Message?
While the poor decision of putting McDavid in a bad spot and then not standing up for him as one of the team’s supposed enforcers is enough to warrant a message being sent, it seems Knoblauch went a step further to drive the point home.
With Frederic in the doghouse, Knoblauch also shook up his lines, bumping Vasily Podkolzin up to line one next to McDavid, especially notable given Podkolzin immediately stepped in to fight Jonathan Kovacevic after a high hit on McDavid just two weeks ago against New Jersey.
We don’t know for sure if that was the motive behind the decisions, but when your role is to be an enforcer and protect your teammates, you better step up when McDavid gets hit—especially when your impact in other areas of the game has been minimal most nights.
The Oilers and their fans will have to hope that watching a game from the press box, along with the Olympic break, gives Frederic a chance to reset mentally and physically and return to make an impact down the stretch. He showed throughout his time as a Bruin that he’s capable of doing so, but the excuse of adjusting to a new team is running out—they need him to get going sooner than later.
Next: Leon Draisaitl Blunt as Ever as Oilers Stumble Into the Olympic Break
