Trent Frederic’s first full season in Edmonton went sideways fast, and he’s not hiding from it. After a 2025-26 campaign that ended with four goals and seven points, the 28-year-old says the ankle issue that followed him into the year never really let him reset.
That matters, because the version of Frederic the Oilers expected was a lot different. He had posted a career-high 18 goals and 40 points in 2023-24, but last season brought a harsh drop-off and several nights in the press box as a healthy scratch. It also left plenty of frustration around a player entering just the second year of an eight-year, $30.8 million contract.
The ankle problem traces back to Frederic’s arrival in Edmonton late in the 2024-25 season, when the Oilers picked him up from the Boston Bruins just before the trade deadline. He was already sidelined with a high-ankle sprain, then played only one regular-season game before aggravating the same ankle again.
He managed to keep going during Edmonton’s second straight run to the Stanley Cup Final, but he clearly wasn’t close to full strength. That playoff stretch ended with four points in 22 games, and while many were willing to excuse it because of the injury, the same benefit of the doubt didn’t follow him into 2025-26.
Frederic explained just how long the recovery dragged on in a conversation with Bob Stauffer on Oilers Now this past Wednesday.
“For me, I think after [Christmas] break, I’d say I was probably as close to 100 per cent as I had been before the injury,” Frederic said. “Going back to last summer, I wasn’t able to skate until right around probably now, just started barely getting back on the ice again.”
That detail changes the picture around his season. A high-ankle sprain is already a tough injury to shake, and Frederic’s comments make it clear he spent a huge chunk of his offseason and season trying to work around it. Now, though, he says he finally gets to attack a summer of training and skating without those limits.
“I think this summer, it’s unfortunate that we lost early, but it’s been great for myself just to get a full summer of training hard and really skating at 100 per cent. It will be good.”
He’s also heading into a new setup behind the bench. Frederic didn’t take any direct shots at Kris Knoblauch, but he did say he felt himself slipping at times last season and losing the edge that defines his game.
“I don’t think I started off great,” Frederic admitted. “I think I got lost and just kind of lost who I was.
Didn’t really have much of an identity. Hopefully I can gain some confidence just getting away from the game, just enjoying the summer right now and having fun, working out and everything.
I’m just excited to come back next year and just have a fresh start. Pretty excited to have Babs.
Kind of a complete fresh slate. I’m excited about that.”
With Mike Babcock now in place, Frederic gets the reset he says he needs. Edmonton’s front office, led by general manager Stan Bowman, has already made several changes to the roster, but the Oilers still don’t have a deep group of forwards. That leaves Frederic with a real chance to matter if he can return to the form he showed before the injuries started piling up.
For Edmonton, that’s the hope. For Frederic, it sounds like the first step is simply being healthy again.
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