Oilers’ Frederic Opens Up on What Led to 2025-26 Struggles – The Hockey Writers – Edmonton Oilers

Edmonton Oilers fans were completely fed up with Trent Frederic after what was a miserable 2025-26 season. The 28-year-old, who scored a career-high 18 goals and 40 points in 2023-24, managed just four goals and seven points in his first full season in Edmonton.

The disappointing season led to Frederic spending several nights in the press box as a healthy scratch. Making matters worse is the fact that he’s set to enter just his second year of an eight-year, $30.8 million deal he signed with the Oilers after the 2024-25 campaign. Suffice to say, he needs to make major improvements this coming season.

The good news for Oilers fans is that there is legitimate reason to believe he can improve. It was clear that he wasn’t in the good graces of Kris Knoblauch, and will now get a fresh start with a new head coach in Mike Babcock. Even better is that he will be entering the 2026-27 campaign fully healthy.

Frederic Battled Injury Throughout 2025-26

Frederic first joined the Oilers late in the 2024-25 season after being acquired just ahead of the trade deadline from the Boston Bruins. He was out of the lineup at the time with a high-ankle sprain, and suited up for just one regular-season game with the Oilers before tweaking that same ankle again.

While Frederic was able to gut things out during the Oilers’ second straight trip to the Stanley Cup Final, it was clear that he was far less than 100 per cent. He finished that lengthy playoff run with a disappointing four points in 22 outings.

Despite the poor playoff showing, most gave Frederic a pass due to his injury. That same pass wasn’t given to him throughout the 2025-26 season, as fans didn’t realize that he was still being hampered by his ankle. He opened up on how frustrating it was playing through the injury throughout the vast majority of the 2025-26 campaign 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.”

Hearing that the injury impacted so much of Frederic’s offseason certainly changes things when it comes to his struggles. We often hear that high-ankle sprains are very difficult injuries to overcome, and the fact that Frederic seemingly never got back to full health last season proves that. The good news, however, is that it sounds as though he’s finally back to feeling like his old self.

“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.”

As mentioned previously, Frederic will also get a new opportunity with Babcock this coming season. While he didn’t pull any shots at Knoblauch while speaking with Stauffer, he did admit that he felt he got lost in the shuffle at times last season.

“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.”

Frederic Could Be X-Factor for Oilers

After a disappointing ending last season, general manager (GM) Stan Bowman and the rest of his staff have made several adjustments to the Oilers’ roster for the upcoming season. That said, they still don’t have a great supporting cast up front, and could really benefit from Frederic getting back to his old self. While it remains to be seen if he can do so, his latest comments give plenty of optimism that he can get things back on track.