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WWYDW: How do the Oilers jumpstart Frederic and Mangiapane?
Edmonton Oilers Trent Frederic
Photo credit: Perry Nelson-Imagn Images
Michael Menzies
Dec 10, 2025, 18:00 ESTUpdated: Dec 10, 2025, 20:43 EST
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The Edmonton Oilers’ two big free agent signings of the offseason are struggling mightily, as Trent Frederic and Andrew Mangiapane can’t seem to get into any sustained rhythm.
Mangiapane had three points in the first three games of the season, but since then, he’s scored two goals and seven points in 27 games, which is okay, but he hasn’t scored in 16 games.
That goalless drought is the second-longest of his career, dating back to the start of his career, where it took him ages to get his first NHL goal.
He was invisible on Tuesday night against the Buffalo Sabres, with just nine minutes of ice-time, and needed that goal against the Kraken to count to get off the schneid.
Frederic, meanwhile, seems lost, with no defined role or path to his game.
Meant to be a physical presence that could contribute some goal-scoring, Frederic provided just his first assist of the season on Saturday against the Jets. But he hasn’t registered more than two hits in a game in the past eight games and Tuesday’s game was his second lowest ice-time of the season at 6:57.
So what gives? How do the Edmonton Oilers get these players going?

Elevate them in the lineup

Does Kris Knoblauch try to give either of them a chance in the top-six again to jumpstart them?
The issue is that the Oilers’ top-six is starting to be defined with Nuge-McDavid-Hyman and Podkolzin-Draisaitl-Savoie. Perhaps Knoblauch, who doesn’t need much excuse to go to the blender, looks to elevate one of them.

Healthy scratch

This is very difficult to do with the Oilers’ current roster, considering the injuries. Connor Clattenburg is day-to-day after getting high-sticked, Noah Philp and Kasperi Kapanen are still on LTIR, and Jack Roslovic won’t be back until around Christmas. Jake Walman may be back quite soon, though, which could prompt a move.
While it doesn’t appear to be a maneuver they can do in the near future, does Knoblauch send a message with a whip and do the ultimate take-away-your-ice-time move by putting them in the press box for a game?

What I would do

For Trent Frederic, as I’ve said a few times on Oilersnation shows, I want to see him try killing penalties so he can have a defined role on the team. Whether we like it or not, Frederic is going to be an Oiler for a long time, and he needs something to do.
While it hasn’t been a consistent part of his game, Frederic did have over 50 minutes of PK time in 2023-24, which was also his best season offensively, scoring 18 goals, 22 assists and 40 points.
I believe it’s worth trying.
For Mangiapane, I don’t have a great answer. He’s producing offence at roughly the same clip he was last season, when he scored 14 goals and 28 points in 81 games in Washington, and the hopes of him finding his top-end goal-scoring touch again seem to be dashed.
It’s worth noting that his 35-goal season in 21-22 was an outlier. He’s never eclipsed the 20-goal plateau before or since that season.  
I think they just have to gut it out and hope that he plays his way through to the other side. There have been games with underlying numbers in this drought, and I don’t think scratching him is the move, either.
But, what would you do?

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