Frederic gets his opportunity to play

TORONTO — With Zach Senyshyn out for at least four weeks with a lower-body injury — just the latest addon to the B’s lengthy injury list — Trent Frederic is the Bruins’ next man up. But if you look at the stat sheet, you can see Frederic wasn’t exactly lighting it up down in Providence.

In 15 games, Frederic had five assists and no goals.

“There have been times I’ve been frustrated and I guess looking at the goal column doesn’t help. It’s been frustrating,” said the 29th overall selection in the 2016 draft. “But I think I’ve had some good games. I’ve been playing hard and maybe that stuff will start to come my way. But I think I’ve been playing hard.”

Though he’s been playing center in Providence, the need with Boston is at wing, so that’s where he’ll be, with center Par Lindholm and right wing Danton Heinen. The less demanding position could simplify things for him.

“I haven’t played much wing down there yet, but hopefully it gets me skating and being a hard (first forechecker) and maybe it will open up a little more offense for me,” said Frederic, who is trying not to overthink things. “I’d say I’m playing my best when I’m not thinking, as crazy as it (sounds). Hockey people may think that’s weird when they hear that. But when I’m not thinking, hopefully wing opens that up, where I can just skate and not do as much thinking.”

Frederic also would like to put his rugged 6-foot-2, 203pound frame to work.

“Hopefully the first shift I’ll get a hit and get into the game,” said Frederic. “With wing, there’s probably more opportunity to be an F1, so hopefully it gives me an opportunity to get my legs going and get into the game early.”

And that’s exactly what coach Bruce Cassidy was looking for from Frederic.

“He’s just going to add a bigger body to the lineup, so hopefully he’s good on the forecheck. It frees him to get on top of people, get to the net for that line,” said Cassidy. “From what I’ve been told, he has hit a lot of posts, he hasn’t had any puck luck. But we don’t expect him to come here and be a leading scorer for us by any means. Hopefully he gets some opportunities. But we want him to round out his game a bit, get back to who he is, get back to being hard, physical. Whether he ends up being in the middle or the wing down the road, we’ll see. But we want to get him back to being that bigger body type of player.”

Rekindled spirit

With a healthy Joakim Nordstrom, who had missed 11 games with injuries, Cassidy hopes to see his line with Sean Kuraly and Chris Wagner get back to its identity.

“They’re out of sync. Nordstrom has a lot to do with that line and he’s been injured. He’s had some tough luck. Every time he gets in he seems to have to take a step. So it’s good that he’s now strung together some games,” said Cassidy. “I think with Sean, he does well offensively in the playoffs and you expect that to carry over to the regular season and grow on it. He hasn’t had that much time in the league so he’s probably frustrated a bit where the pucks aren’t going in for him, either. Our message to them is, ‘Let’s get back to your roots here. Be good defensively and the rest will take care of itself. Be hard to play against. Be miserable to play against.’ And hopefully they take that to heart, because then the rest will follow.”

Kuraly and Wagner had one goal apiece while Nordstrom had two.