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What Bruins said about Trent Frederic trade amid another ugly loss
"I could go on and on about Trent, but wouldn't do it justice at this point.”
Since Trent Frederic first skated on the ice with the Bruins during the 2018-19 campaign, Charlie Coyle has been a familiar sight on his line.
he duo logged more than 1,800 minutes of ice time together.
Given those close ties, it came as little surprise that Coyle was still gathering his thoughts Tuesday night, hours after the Bruins traded Frederic to the Oilers in exchange for two draft picks and an AHL defenseman.
“I sent him a text, and I’m sure he was getting hounded and still in shock and things like that,” Coyle said of Frederic after Boston’s 6-3 loss to Nashville. “But, yeah, it stinks. That stuff happens. It’s part of the business, unfortunately.
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“But it’s hard to see a guy like that leave, and he’s been such a good friend, teammate, player — yeah. I could go on and on about Trent, but wouldn’t do it justice at this point.”
With the Bruins continuing to slide down the standings, a deal centered around a pending unrestricted free agent like Frederic felt all but inevitable. Following Tuesday’s loss to a cellar-dwelling Nashville club, MoneyPuck has the Bruins at 6.2 percent of making the postseason.
“Obviously sad,” David Pastrnak said of Frederic’s exit. “Freddy is an amazing human being. Heck of a player and a tough kid. Obviously going to be missed by the group. As I said, an amazing kid and unfortunately — that’s the business and the situation the team is in. … Tough, but we have to move forward. That’s the sad side of this business.”
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Beyond Frederic’s reputation in Boston’s dressing room, the optics of the Bruins selling off pieces ahead of Friday’s NHL trade deadline stands as a sizable departure from this franchise’s usual approach at this point on the calendar.
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An already somber Bruins team following Frederic’s trade did little to brighten the mood on Tuesday night, falling to a Nashville team that entered the night with a hideous 6-20-4 record on the road.
As noted by 98.5 The Sports Hub Ty Anderson, Tuesday marked the ninth time this season that Boston has surrendered at least six goals in a game.
In what has been a recurring theme all year, Boston let go of the rope defensively shortly after lighting the lamp, giving up goals to the Predators just 1:07, 1:17, and 2:53 after finding the back of the net themselves.
“We control what we can control. And I mean, I say that right now — after that, we honestly didn’t control what we control. … You can’t worry about that extra stuff,” Coyle said of the team’s response against Nashville, adding: “When you start stressing and thinking about the what-ifs — it doesn’t do anything.”
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As the Bruins brace for potentially even more moves before Friday’s deadline, Coyle pushed back against the thought that Frederic’s exit impacted the team’s preparation entering the game against Nashville.
“I don’t think so,” Coyle said. “I’m not saying Freddy wouldn’t affect us, but he was already out of the lineup, right? So no — like, we have to be ready to go and focused and ready to play 60 minutes, especially against a team who’s not in playoff contention. Like there’s no excuse for that. So it shouldn’t.”
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