It’s been a rough month to be Trent Frederic’s face.

First, he got the rough end of Mathieu Oliver’s fists during a Nov. 10th fight when Frederic took on pound-for-pound toughest player in the league, getting a black eye in the process.

Then, during Wednesday’s practice ahead of Thursday’s game against the Detroit Red Wings, he got hit with a puck in the left side of his face.

Sportsnet’s Gene Principe shared footage of Frederic getting off the ice after getting hit.

And on Thursday morning, Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch confirmed his team would roll the same lineup against the Red Wings, and that Frederic — and his 14 stiches — would be in the lineup.

“He’ll have a nice little souvenir,” joked Knoblauch.

It’s been a tough season for Frederic, who after signing an eight-year, $3.85-million AAV deal this summer, has scored just two goals and three points in 30 games. While he’s maintained a physical presence, laying 12.6 hits per hour at five-on-five, his rates of goals and points per hour this season are the lowest of his career.

The underlying defensive metrics with him on the ice have been solid, but his overall contributions on the ice, according to HockeyViz, have him impacting the game at the level of a low-end third line player — a far cry from the last three seasons, where he impacted the game at the level of a low-end first-line player, a high-end third line player, and a low-end second line player.

The Oilers need more offence from Frederic, who’s calling card as a trade acquisition ahead of last year’s deadline was somebody that has shown he can chip in offence from depth spots on the roster.

Could some of that come tonight? Frederic’s played 13 games against the Red Wings in his career, scoring three goals and six points, with his point total being the third-highest against any team in the league. He’ll look to do so remaining on the Oilers’ fourth line alongside Curtis Lazar and David Tomášek.

Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the Daily Faceoff DFS Hockey Report. He can be followed on X at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.