Bruce Cassidy and his staff entered training camp with plenty of questions on the docket in regards to a lineup teeming with new faces.
One query that wasn’t on their radar was Boston’s fourth line and Trent Frederic’s potential fit on that checking unit.
His offensive ceiling has yet to be realized, but Frederic’s sandpaper style of play and willingness (if not outright enjoyment) at being a thorn in the side of opponents sure paints the picture of an effective fourth-liner.
And even though hockey has continued to phase out the importance of players capable of dropping the gloves — having a regular that can both throw his weight around and answer for any transgressions from the opposition still holds plenty of value, in Cassidy’s eyes.
“We're Boston. And that's part of our culture that we're going to stick up for one another and if things aren't going our way — we're going to make sure we have guys in the lineup that can handle that part of the game, as long as it's in the game,” Cassidy said. “So it does matter. And then it's opponent-driven.
“We can't have teams come in here and where our guys don't feel like we have enough toughness, team toughness. And I know it's in the room where guys will stick up for one another. We got new guys that are willing to do that, guys that have been around, guys have been taught that way. But some nights that'll be less important than others.”
And yet, as appealing as Frederic’s skillset is as a compliment to a revamped fourth line with Tomas Nosek in the middle, his actual play on the ice has left a lot to be desired.
In Cassidy’s eyes, a fourth line isn’t judged on its effectiveness based on how many crushing checks it delivers, but by how its able to manage the puck and keep its top-six matchups from dictating play.
And in that area, Frederic has labored this spring — with the big-bodied power forward either a step behind opposing skaters in races to the puck or drawing the ire of his coach for costly turnovers.
(A miscue from Frederic on the penalty kill leads to a puck getting slipped over to James van Riemsdyk — and a power-play tally from Joel Farabee shortly thereafter.)
A lackluster stat line (0 points, three shots on goal over four preseason games) is a bit discouraging, especially considering Boston believes that Frederic’s offensive ceiling is higher than that of a north-south grinder. But at this moment, the primary concern for Cassidy and his staff is getting Frederic to adhere to the finer details of the game — and the responsibilities that fall on players penciled into that fourth-line role.
“Not strong enough on the puck yesterday," Cassidy said of Frederic's play last week. "Some things like that, that he takes for granted, those little plays. He just has to have more urgency and be stronger on it — hang on to it.”
While there are plenty of other fourth-line candidates that appear to be knocking on the door behind Frederic, it sure seems as though Boston is doing what it can to help Frederic sort through his slow start. Maybe it’s because of his unique skillset as a heavier presence in a lineup that might need his snarl to deter opponents. Or maybe Boston believes that Frederic, if he gets back on track, could be a guy that can thrive on a puck-possession line and could chip in with 15-20 points over the span of an 82-game slate.
Whatever the case may be, Cassidy believes the B’s might have to take a more active (and critical) approach in order to get the struggling forward back on track.
"He might be a guy we got to prod a little bit. ... That's where it's on us to make sure we get him ready to play,” Cassidy said of Frederic. “The line you got to be careful of is now is he thinking 'Ah, these coaches are in my damn head every shift,' so that's the balance we have to go through, use our staff wisely to get them there and it's still still a process for us."
Frederic ingratiated himself to Bruins fans over the past few seasons due to his willingness to drop the gloves and general propensity to bug the bejesus out of opponents with a barrage of chirps throughout a contest — but for Cassidy, those hallmarks of his game can sometimes have him fall down a slippery slope.
Of course, Frederic is often most effective when he’s getting under the skin of opponents, but Cassidy’s preference is for those brouhahas to come organically via a heavy check or puck battle in Grade-A ice, rather than Frederic simply looking to be a pest from the opening puck drop.
"I don't want him worried about, 'OK — I got to go through the sheet, tomorrow ... I got to fight the toughest guy.' Like that's not it with Freddy,” Cassidy said. “To me, it's wake up in a bad mood somehow. So that you're just going out there and being a little more belligerent and less worried about who's in the other sweater. It'll find you if you're like that. And that part will take care of itself.
“That's what I think he was doing when he was on his game last year. He was annoying Ovechkin, right? ... He was annoying them and I think then the attention gets brought on to him and that part of his game will fuel him and probably brings out the better in him and now he's involved a little more in that. But we got to get him to that point where he's annoying some people. And if he protects the puck a lot and all a sudden the D are on him and now there's an exchange in the corner, physical confrontation. ... We want him to do it on the forecheck, that's why he's on the wing a little more than center. You got a little more freedom and then with the puck, drag some people to the net maybe on the way into the net, bump into somebody."
Penciled in (for now) on a straight-line unit with a guy like Nosek should generate plenty of opportunities for Frederic to land some welts against the competition and serve as the proverbial bull in the china shop that Cassidy and his staff have seen from him when he's played at his best. Frederic's ability to impact a contest in such a way has given him a bit more leverage to stumble during preseason action without much in terms of lineup ramifications, but sooner or later, results will need to be put forth — because Frederic's heavy hooks and grating chirps aren't going to matter all that much if he's spending most of his shifts chasing the puck.