NHL Notebook: Boston Bruins sign Trent Frederic to a two-year contract and New Jersey Devils re-sign Kevin Bahl to a two-year contract
11 months ago
We’re beginning to see more action coming out of the NHL, with teams deciding to come to terms with players ahead of scheduled arbitration hearings, and that’s what the Boston Bruins and restricted free agent Trent Frederic did when he signed a two-year contract with $2.3 million AAV deal on Tuesday.
The scheduled arbitration hearing was set for Tuesday, but the two exchanged numbers on Sunday. Those numbers showed the Bruins offering two years at $1.4 million and Frederic and his camp asking for one year at $2.9 million, but the two landed in the middle with the new deal.
The forward is coming off what the market calls one of the best seasons of his career after scoring 17 goals and 31 points with an average of just under 12 minutes of ice time. He’s also ranked second among the team’s forwards in hits at 105.
The deal means that the Bruins are going to expect to take on a more significant role in the upcoming 2023-24 campaign with the team, which could place him as the team’s third-line centre as Charlie Coyle is expected to also move up in the lineup and Frederic’s physical play could help with that prediction.
Here aremore of the details of the deal from Daily Faceoff’s Matt Larkin:
Frederic’s new two-year deal will take him to unrestricted free agency in summer of 2025. Frederic, 25, is coming off the best season on his career by far, having busted out for 17 goals and 31 points in 79 games as part of a stacked Boston team that set an NHL single-season record with 65 wins. With Frederic on the ice at 5-on-5 last season, the Bruins outscored opponents 47-23 and generated 53.48% of the scoring chances.
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New Jersey Devils re-sign Kevin Bahl to a two-year contract
On Tuesday, the New Jersey Devils announced the club had re-signed defenceman Kevin Bahl to a two-year contract with a $1,050,00 AAV.
Earlier this summer, the Devils re-signed Jesper Bratt and Timo Meier, marking off the final check on their to-do list with the re-signing of Bahl.
Last year, there was a significant improvement in the defenceman’s play; however, his two goals and eight points may not show it. He’s very much so a stay-at-home blue liner and showed it with a 54.4% corsi for. There’s the possibility that resigning Bahl means he could be slotted on the third line, but if not, he could dominate along the team’s bottom pair of defenceman.
Bahl came to New Jersey as one of the trade pieces that sent Taylor Hall to the Arizona Coyotes, the complete deal back in 2019 saw Arizona acquire Hall and Blake Speers in exchange for the Devils receiving a first-round pick in 2020, a conditional third-round pick in 2021 (Ryder Korczak), Nicholas Merkley, Nate Schnarr, and Bahl.
Here’s more on the details of the news from Daily Faceoff’s Colton Davies:
According to StatMuse, Bahl’s 6.52 hits per 60 minutes ranked second for all New Jersey defensemen who played in more than 10 games during the 2022-23 regular season. Bahl played in 11 of the Devils’ 12 playoff contests, averaged 13:31 time-on-ice, and was one of 10 Devils skaters who earned their first career postseason point.
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