Trent Frederic Looking To Develop Into Whatever Bruins Need

BOSTON -- The Bruins have a lot of moving parts in their forward group, which is why Trent Frederic is preparing for whatever is thrown his way.

The departures of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci this offseason left the Bruins with a hole up the middle, leaving them scrambling to try and find the right men to replace a pair of players who where among the franchise's best ever at the position. Boston went out and made a number of signings in the offseason, but has an internal option in Frederic if it chooses to shuffle things up.

"I tried to work on my faceoffs (this offseason) so I can take some if they need me," Frederic told reporters Thursday. "It seems like we have a lot of right shots taking faceoffs. Hopefully I can chip in if I keep getting better."

Charlie Coyle and Morgan Geekie seem to be the Bruins' best right-shot options in the middle, with Pavel Zacha serving as their best left-shot option heading into the season. Frederic, who is a lefty, could round things out evenly, but the early plan is to keep him on the wing. He had a career-year in 2022-23, moving around and scoring 31 points while playing alongside the likes of Coyle and Taylor Hall.

Though he had success moving around, Frederic has a preference where he plays on the wing.

"I kind of prefer the right side over the left," Frederic said. "I don't know why. I guess it's coming in on my back hand, just from last year playing it the majority of the time I tended to like it a bit more. We're talking a little bit, not like a crazy amount. I can play all three, whatever they need."

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The real step forward will be whether or not Frederic can see an increased role on special teams. The Bruins didn't necessarily need him on either the power play or penalty kill last season, but the opportunity could arise in 2023-24.

Boston is likely going to have Zacha replace Bergeron on the power-play, while Coyle replaces him on the penalty kill. That leaves plenty of open space on second units, where the real next step for Frederic could come.

Frederic could see an opportunity on the power play Friday when the Bruins take on the Philadelphia Flyers in preseason action at TD Garden. You can watch the game, plus an hour of postgame coverage, live with NESN360 starting at 7 p.m. ET.