Frederic still a work in progress
Bruins want better puck possession from brawler
We all know Trent Frederic can fight and he seems to like the activity as much as anyone can.
But as useful as that trait still is, there’s more to being an effective fourth liner in today’s NHL and coach Bruce Cassidy is trying to work on Frederic’s various habits that will make him a more trusted puck possession player, whether he’s skating on the wing or at center like he did in Thursday’s win over the Flyers.
He’s got the frame — 6-foot-2, 210 pounds — to do it. But judging from his performance in camp so far, Frederic has a ways to go. He and his linemates have found themselves in a chase mode too often.
“Not strong enough on the puck (on Thursday),” said Cassidy on Friday. “On the first shift, he makes a real nice play to (Chris) Wagner off the wing coming through the neutral zone, which he’s done for us. He’s shot the puck well. But he gets it below the goal line and backhand pass that comes back at us. Backhand pass behind our net, it comes back at us, it gets intercepted. Things like that that he takes for granted, those little plays, he just needs to have more urgency and be stronger, and hang on to it.
“That’s just a capsule of (what we’re looking for). When our fourth line is at its best over the years, it was puck possession below the goal line and along the half wall. We saw (Noel) Kuraly do it, Noel (Acciari), Wagner, (Tim) Schaller. All those guys were really hard to play against and it frustrated the other lines. So that’s the messaging. That’s part of your job, to hang on to pucks. Nothing might come of it. You don’t know. There’s good defenders. But if nothing, you’ve killed good time off the clock against good lines that are now frustrated a little bit and that’s part of your job. You’re going to leave the puck in a good spot for the next line of guys coming over the boards that are paid to score. Eventually, maybe you’re one of those guys. But right now, that’s the ask. And I think that’s where he has to understand and buy into it.”
The Bruins clearly believe he can do the job. They not only protected Frederic in the expansion draft, they extended him with a modest two-year deal worth $1.05 million per season while leaving unprotected Nick Ritchie, to whom they eventually did not tender a qualifying offer.
And the role they need Frederic to fill is still important. It’s often said that fighting is not is not as integral as it once was in the NHL, and that is true — until you find yourself without a player who can do it. Despite seemingly being on the right path in their rebuild, the Rangers essentially overhauled their front office and part of their lineup because some of their skilled players got pushed around at a critical juncture last season.
The B’s are thin in that department. Aside form Frederic, they also have Derek Forbort, who has the size and willingness. But you don’t want a defenseman spending that much time in the box that often, especially if he’s going to be paired with No. 1 D-man Charlie McAvoy.
It appeared Frederic tried get the Blueshirts’ Ryan Reaves — one of the Rangers’ new hired guns and one of the toughest guys in the league — at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, but Reaves didn’t bite and Frederic didn’t seem to push it. It is preseason, after all.
But Cassidy doesn’t want Frederic to be concerned with any high noon showdowns that have little bearing on the rest of the game. Instead, he’d like to see him possess a well-maintained truculence throughout the game.
“I don’t want him going through the sheet, thinking ‘OK, I’ve got to fight the toughest guy.’ That’s not it with Freddy. To me it’s ‘Wake up in a bad mood somehow.’ So that you’re going out there and being a little more belligerent and less worried about who’s in the other sweater,” said Cassidy. “It’ll find you if you’re like that. Then that part will take care of itself. That’s what he was doing when he was on his game last year. He was annoying (Alex) Ovechkin, (Tom) Wilson and these guys, whoever. It might have been (John) Carlson that night. But he was annoying them and then the attention gets brought on to him. And that part of his game will fuel him and brings out the better of him. Now he’s involved. But we’ve got to get him to that point, where he’s a little more annoying to some people. And if he protects the puck a lot, all of a sudden the D are on him and there’s an exchange in the corner, a physical confrontation that could happen. We want him to do it on the forecheck.
“That’s why he’s been on the wing a little more than center, you’ve got a little more freedom. Maybe you take the puck to the net, drag some people with you and bump into somebody to annoy them. There’s different things he can do in that regard.”
To play Frederic’s kind of game, emotion surely plays a role, much as it has for Brad
Marchand, they the two are much different players.
“He might be a guy we’ve got to prod a little bit. I don’t think anyone had to prod Marchy and that’s the beauty of the rise of his game,” said Cassidy. “He had a plan in his head on how he was going to make the team, whereas Freddy might not be as far along at that internal drive and figuring that part of it out. That’s where it’s on us to get him ready to play. But there’s a line you have to be careful of. You don’t want him thinking ‘These coaches are in my damn head every shift.’ That’s the balance we have to go through, use our staff wisely to get him going. It’s still a process for us.”
Other notes
Marchand did not practice on Friday, with Cassidy calling it a “maintenance” day, though he wasn’t sure if he would play in Saturday’s preseason game against the Rangers.
Jakub Lauko (lower body) remained off the ice, but Cassidy said he’s nearing a return.