The Edmonton Oilers said farewell to Evander Kane on June 25, trading him to the Vancouver Canucks after a four-year run with the team and as Cam Lewis recently noted, “While the Oilers are letting go of an effective power forward in Kane, they believe they have a younger and less expensive replacement in the fold.”

Just days after trading Kane to the Canucks for a fourth-round pick, the Oilers began a new chapter by signing Trent Frederic to an eight-year deal worth $3.85 million annually. With limited cap space, it seemed there was only room for one of them, and the Oilers chose the one who’s six years younger.

They both play a similar physical, in-your-face style and have proven their ability to put the puck in the back of the net, though Kane has the stronger scoring track record. Still, the move came after Kane posted 12 points in 21 playoff games, while Frederic tallied just four, which makes you wonder — did the Oilers really upgrade with Frederic over Kane? Let’s take a closer look at how these two measure up.

While advanced metrics can’t quantify chirping or hard-nosed gamesmanship, Kane and Frederic are certainly skilled in those areas. During Kane’s time in Oil Country, he chirped like a schoolyard bully, hit like a freight train, and was known for jawing after whistles, and dropped the gloves five times. With Frederic, we’ve already seen his physicality — he delivered 85 hits last playoffs, ranking sixth in the NHL.

We’ve also seen flashes of his sandpaper-style toughness, like his playoff fight with Nicolas Hague in the second round against the Vegas Golden Knights, and the series of cross-checks on Sam Bennett in the Stanley Cup Final, even breaking his stick over his back. Also, no doubt the chirps were flying too, and they were likely not family-friendly either. So, as for toughness? There’s no shortage with Frederic.

Kane’s pinnacle with the Oilers came during the 2022 NHL playoffs, where he was a force to be reckoned with. He scored 13 goals, tying for the postseason lead, and added four assists in 15 games.

Moreover, Kane played a total of 118 regular-season games for the Oilers and produced 72 points during that time. While his career-high is 30 goals and 56 points from the 2018-19 season, his highest point total with the Oilers came in the 2023-24 campaign, when he scored 24 goals and tallied 44 points.

Frederic’s career-high in points was 40 during the 2023-24 season. That said, in this year’s playoffs with the Oilers, he wasn’t at 100% due to a lingering ankle injury and produced only four points in 22 games, so it’s safe to say his last postseason run wasn’t a true reflection of what he can bring to the table offensively.

Though it’s clear the Oilers lose some scoring touch with Kane gone, let’s not write off Frederic’s scoring touch just yet — even if he only found the back of the net just once during Edmonton’s last playoff run.

Frederic had a down regular season last year, recording just eight goals and seven assists in 57 games. For argument’s sake, let’s call it a one-off down year for the rugged forward. Yet, if we use Frederic’s 2023–24 career-best season as a snapshot of his scoring potential, a review of his 18 regular-season goals shows that most came from just a few feet out, similar to Kane’s, often off tips and rebounds. The 6-foot-3 forward also mixed in some crafty finishes, like this slick forehand-to-backhand move below.

That season, he also buried four goals from the high slot, firing off quick snap shots — something that, judging by his quiet playoff run with the Oilers in terms of points, you might not have expected to be part of his game. Take this one, for example, where he beat Sergei Bobrovsky from a distance in 2024.

In saying that, I doubt the expectation is for Frederic to replace Kane’s goal scoring outright, but that small sample suggests he has more offensive upside than what we saw last playoffs.

Additionally, something else that bodes well for Frederic is a point I mentioned in a previous article — players of his ilk, big power-forward types, tend to hit their prime right around the age of 28, which Frederic turns in February. For example, former Oiler Pat Maroon, who played in Edmonton from 2015 to 2018, had his best season at age 28 when he scored a career-high 27 goals. Another example is former Oiler Zack Kassian, who suited up for Edmonton from 2015 to 2022. He also hit his stride at 28, recording his first 15-goal season in 2018–19 and following it up with his most productive campaign the next year, putting up 34 points in 2019–20.

The upside here is that the Oilers are likely getting Frederic right as he’s entering his peak. For now, the scoring nod goes to Kane at this point, but don’t be shocked if Frederic narrows the gap next season.

Frederic, according to NHL Edge data, reached a top skating speed of 22.05 MPH last playoffs, which ranked below the league-wide 50th percentile. However, for comparison, during the 2024 playoffs, his top speed was 22.78 MPH, placing him in the 91st percentile.

Additionally, in 13 playoff games in 2024, Frederic recorded four speed bursts over 22 MPH, whereas last playoffs, through 22 postseason games with Edmonton, the 27-year-old registered only one speed burst above 22 MPH. Judging by the data, the difference from one year to the next shows that lingering injuries hampered the skating of the St. Louis, MO native. In comparison, Kane — who missed nearly a year of hockey and may not have reached his full stride either — recorded a top skating speed of 21.86 MPH last playoffs, which comes in just under Frederic’s.

As well, looking at more data from Natural Stat Trick, Frederic averaged 1.88 takeaways per 60 minutes in the 2024 playoffs with Boston, compared to just 0.48 in last year’s playoffs. This drop could reflect the impact of his limited ankle mobility last playoffs, specifically hindering his ability to stop and start quickly. It suggests he may have another element of two-way ability when fully healthy. Nevertheless, combining the stats with Kane’s declining wheels due to age, Frederic has the upper hand when it comes to speed.

This leads us to the next qualities Frederic offers the Oilers compared to Kane: utility and versatility.

With Connor Brown now signed with the New Jersey Devils, his departure leaves a hole on the Oilers’ penalty kill, as he led all forwards with 125:51 of shorthanded ice time last season. That said, Frederic played a career-high 51:33 on the PK during the 2023-24 season, averaging just under 40 seconds per game. With a spot open on the PK, Frederic could see time there next season. For comparison, the most PK time Kane logged with the Oilers was 33:57 in the 2022-23 season, and it’s likely most of those minutes came near the end of kills when the Oilers were transitioning to offence, and he only played 22 PK seconds last playoffs.

Additionally, as the pieces are starting to fall into place with free agent signings and roster spots are starting to fill, I’m starting to think that Frederic’s statement from his season-end interview of “I would love to play more center” also reflects the Oilers’ intentions for him next season. He has experience playing at all three forward positions, but I’d wager he’ll get reps down the middle at 3C, especially considering Adam Henrique’s skating has slowed, with his top playoff speed last year at 21.08 MPH, which is below the NHL median.

Moreover, Kane mostly played left wing during his time in Edmonton and had opportunities to skate on the top line with both Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. While it’s too early to say whether Frederic will land a role there, I’d like to see him get a shot at some point playing with the dynamic duo next season — especially considering how well previous power forwards like Maroon and Kassian performed alongside the Oilers’ captain, with both hitting career highs at age 28.

Overall, moving on from Kane means losing some dynamic scoring touch, but with Frederic, they get younger, and the team still retains toughness and physicality while gaining intangibles like speed, versatility, an improved two-way game, and perhaps hidden scoring potential ready to break out.

To top it all of, while Frederic’s contract might initially be viewed by Daily Faceoff as one of the worst free-agent signings of the early offseason, I have a sneaky feeling that with a healthier ankle, more time with the team, a full training camp, and his prime still ahead, he’s poised to outperform his contract’s AAV — at least for next season.

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