'Just an awesome guy': Oilers GM defends 8-year deal for veteran winger
Frederic had been acquired in a March 2025 deal with Boston, along with Max Jones and prospect Petr Hauser. Edmonton gave up second and fourth round picks, as well as the the rights to unsigned draft choice Shane Lachance (going to New Jersey to retain 50% of Frederic's salary for the remainder of the 2024-25 season).
Said Bowman of the 6-foot- 3-inch, 220-pound, 27-year-old Frederic: 'He's just an awesome guy, first of all. Like outside of the hockey, he's a guy that you believe in, you want him as part of your team. So I really like the character of Freddie, but that alone is not the reason to sign a guy to a long-term deal.
'But I think a couple of things about him. Number one, he's a very unique player with the skillset that he has. He's a big guy, he's a physical player, he's not afraid. He's got that intimidation factor where he'll go to the other team's bench and challenge anybody, like stop messing around with our group. That's something that I find, you either have that or you don't. It's really hard to bluff your way through that. And he's just naturally that way… No one has to tell him you need to go tell the other team to settle it down here. That's just who he is. So I think, and he's also got the versatility of playing center and wing.'
Bowman continued: 'And he's scored, you know, he scored what, 18 goals twice in a row at a fairly young, younger age. So I think he's got the game in him. And I think when you add all that up, it comes down to he's a very unique player. It's not like if we passed on Frederic, we'll just go get so-and-so, who's maybe a little different, but the same type of player. Not a lot of guys like that out there. They just aren't anymore.'
Bowman added that Edmonton signed Frederic knowing that it was bringing in a few smaller forwards in Ike Howard and Matt Savoie. 'So I knew we were gonna have a couple smaller guys that I wanted someone with some physicality and some size. And so when you add that all up, I think, you know, he's someone that is gonna be an important player and we're gonna be happy to have him with our group for years to come.'
My take
1. First off, Millard and Shannon do an excellent job interviewing Bowman. It's as forthcoming and open as I've heard Bowman in an interview.
2. When I first heard that Frederic was going to sign here for eight years, I didn't like the idea much, but I've come around to it for a few reasons. To get Frederic at that annual salary of $3.85 million, the Oilers needed to go long-term. It would have been better if they could have kept this same deal to about six years, but the low cap hit is needed just now with Edmonton cap-strapped for the next few seasons.
3. When we look at somewhat comparable players we see Utah signed Jack McBain for five years at $4.25 million per, Boston signed Tanner Jeannot, five years, $3.4 million per, and New Jersey signed checker Connor Brown four years, $3.00 million per. Frederic is in the same range as McBrain as a player, at least when Frederic is healthy. Jeannot isn't the point scorer that Frederic and McBain are, while Brown isn't the physical player that any of the others are.
4. One of the hardest things to find in the NHL is a tough, physical intimidating player who can hold his own in the Top 9. The Oilers have let two such players, Dylan Holloway and Evander Kane, out of their grasp in the last two summers. That's a huge loss to the team. Bowman is right that he needed to add that kind of player to his roster. If Edmonton is going to win a Cup, it's going to need plenty of toughness. Frederic was playing hurt and was a mediocre two-way player in the 2025 playoffs, but if he can regain his health, he's the real deal when it comes to NHL power forwards.
5. Over the last three regular season, if we rank forwards on hits and points per 60 minutes of even strength play, Frederic ranks 22nd overall. McBain ranks 17th, Jeannot 154th and Brown 425th.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
14 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Ride along: Wallace's late-race charge to top-10 finish
Ride along with the No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota driven by Bubba Wallace as the Brickyard 400 winner gallops through the field to finish sixth at Iowa Speedway.
Yahoo
14 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter Call Out Aaron Boone, Yankees After Loss to Marlins
Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter Call Out Aaron Boone, Yankees After Loss to Marlins originally appeared on Athlon Sports. There isn't a team under more pressure and a bigger microscope than the New York Yankees. While they hold a competitive 60-51 record, they're currently playing some of the sloppiest baseball of the season — and it's costing them. Just a few weeks ago, New York sat atop the AL East. But entering Sunday, after back-to-back losses to the Miami Marlins, they've slipped to third place behind the Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox, trailing Toronto by 4 1/2 games. On Friday, the Yankees blew a 6-0 lead and lost 13-12, with three of their newly acquired trade deadline relievers giving up multiple earned runs. Then on Saturday, they were held scoreless in a 2-0 loss, highlighted by a costly baserunning blunder when Jazz Chisholm Jr. was doubled off at first base on an infield popup — a play that drew instant backlash from fans calling for manager Aaron Boone to bench him. Boone defended Chisholm postgame, but the scrutiny only intensified later that night when former Yankees legends Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter echoed the same frustrations during the "MLB on Fox" broadcast, criticizing the team's lack of accountability and overall sluggish play. 'You can't make this up,' Rodriguez said. 'I mean, look, you can bring in nine relievers, it's not going to make a difference. I don't care if you bring back their '98 bullpen with Mariano [Rivera], Mike Stanton, and Jeff Nelson, if your pitchers are going 3 1/3, 4 1/3 innings it's not going to work.' 'Where's the accountability?' Rodriguez added. 'If any one of us made a mistake, we would be sitting out right on the bench. I see mistake after mistake and there are no consequences.' Jeter echoed Rodriguez's honest, yet truthful comments about the 27-time World Series champions. 'They make way too many mistakes,' Jeter said. 'And you can't get away with making that number of mistakes against great teams. It just doesn't happen. They had baserunning mistakes today — you saw the guy getting thrown out at home plate. You can't continue to do it. You have to clean it up.' 'There are no excuses. You have to play better,' Jeter continued. 'If you don't play better, you're not going to go very far.'This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Aug 3, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
14 minutes ago
- Yahoo
MLB contenders watch for fatigue as some starters experience an increased workload
CHICAGO (AP) — At age 34, Matthew Boyd is going back to what was once familiar territory for the left-hander. He has logged 130 2/3 innings so far in his first season with the Chicago Cubs, more than he totaled in the previous two years combined. It's a workload jump that goes against what had become conventional wisdom in the majors, where teams have frequently capped pitchers' innings in hopes of keeping them healthy. 'Things have been going great,' Boyd said. 'And I think it's like none of us know what's ahead. And that goes for everybody." Boyd's workload is worth watching as the Cubs try to rally in the NL Central race and go on a deep October run. He is among a group of pitchers going through a spike in innings in the heart of the playoff picture. After spending most of his career as a reliever, Clay Holmes has 117 1/3 innings going into his 23rd start for the Mets on Tuesday night. Phillies left-hander Jesús Luzardo is up to 127 innings after he finished with 66 2/3 last year. All-Stars Garrett Crochet of the Red Sox and Bryan Woo of the Mariners also are progressing toward major increases. 'That's something we always monitor and watch,' Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. 'I know we're in constant communication in-between starts.' The days of predetermined innings limits, especially when it comes to young prospects and pitchers on losing teams, aren't going away anytime soon. But more organizations appear to be going with a case-by-case approach. 'I think the reason why it's changed a little bit and we don't look at that either percentage increase or fixed innings increase is because it wasn't working," said David Stearns, the president of baseball operations for the Mets. 'I think more and more we're trying to treat each pitcher as an individual. And if a pitcher feels good both subjectively and objectively, we try not to artificially shut them down.' Crochet, 26, helped show what might be possible last year. The 6-foot-6 left-hander, who had Tommy John surgery in April 2022, began last season with 73 innings in 72 appearances spanning four seasons with the White Sox. He made his first big league start on opening day. With the White Sox closely monitoring his workload in the last part of the season, he finished with 32 starts and 146 innings. He is tied for the major league lead with 141 1/3 innings going into Tuesday night's start against Kansas City. 'I think that I really set myself up for this season to go out there and for there really to be no leash necessary,' said Crochet, who was traded to the Red Sox in December and then agreed to a $170 million, six-year contract. 'I've been feeling really good throughout the season and the five days in between my starts I really feel like I'm prepared and doing a lot to get my body in the right position to have success and to continue to give length throughout the year.' Boyd was recovering from Tommy John surgery when he signed with Cleveland last year. He returned to the majors last August and went 2-2 with a 2.72 ERA in eight starts and 39 2/3 innings for the Guardians. He also pitched 11 2/3 innings for the AL Central champions in the playoffs. That was enough for Chicago to give Boyd a $29 million, two-year contract in free agency. And he has delivered so far, making the NL All-Star team while going 11-4 with a 2.34 ERA in 22 starts. Boyd pitched a career-high 185 1/3 innings for Detroit in 2019, but he hasn't approached that territory since. The Cubs gave him nine days off between starts over the All-Star break, and Boyd has frequent conversations with manager Craig Counsell and pitching coach Tommy Hottovy about his workload and how he is feeling. The Cubs also have rookie right-hander Cade Horton, who is up to 102 2/3 innings this season — including his time with Triple-A Iowa — after he totaled 34 1/3 innings in the minors last year. 'This is an area where the industry has not maybe figured out the answer, so you're just trying to keep getting better answers,' Counsell said. 'I think in the past, we were just relying on history. I think now we're relying on the data we collect from the actual player.' Communication is one thing, but an array of metrics and biomechanical analysis is at the center of the decision-making process when it comes to pitchers and rest. 'There's tangible things that you just keep an eye on,' Boyd said. "You have your spin data, you have your velocity. We have biomechanics tracking. It's like, 'Hey, the mechanics are getting out of whack. ... Is there something we need to address? How do you address that?' 'There's so many different avenues you can go down and levers you can pull if you will. And it's not as cut and dry as like 20% increase, 50% increase (in innings).' ___ AP Baseball Writer Mike Fitzpatrick in New York and AP Sports Writer Andrew Destin in Seattle contributed to this report. ___ AP MLB:
