Bruins player who must be traded soon

The Boston Bruins appear to be a team that can't make up it's mind on how the season will play out. As the year got underway, there was quite a bit of optimism that the Bruins would challenge the Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs for first place in the Atlantic Division.

However, as soon as the preseason ended and the regular season opened up against the Panthers, the Bruins no longer looked like a team that could compete with the better teams in the league. Goalie Jeremy Swayman looked quite ordinary after holding out through training camp. The Bruins struggled to put the puck in the net most nights as the power play fell apart.

However, the most notable aspect was the breakdown in the team's defensive ability. This team has been known for its defensive structure and physical play in its own zone for more than 15 seasons. Suddenly, they were allowing opponents freedom to move the puck and take advantage of high danger chances.

It didn't take long for general manager Don Sweeney and team president Cam Neely to see that the Bruins had problems. As the team played poorly, head coach Jim Montgomery was criticized frequently and it seemed like he was panicking as the team tried to right itself.

The fans lost faith in the head coach, and management fired Montgomery and assistant coach Joe Sacco was named as the interim coach.

Bruins start to turn it around

While there were more reasons besides a jumpy head coach for the team's poor start, the team appears to have turned around since Sacco was given his shot to lead the team. Swayman has started to resemble an elite goaltender once again, captain Brad Marchand has improved his offensive production and the team's defense is playing much better hockey than it did earlier in the year.

The Bruins are waiting for superstar David Pastrnak to hit his stride. While he is one of the sport's elite goal scorers, he has not been in top form this year. Although he has a team-leading 33 points with 12 goals and 21 assists, he is connecting on just 8.8 percent of his shots. That's a career low for the Czech superstar, who has been as high as 17.2 percent in the past. Pastrnak scored 61 goals in 2022-23 and he followed that up with 47 goals last season.

The Bruins need much more from their superstar, but he is not the only one who is struggling to meet expectations.

Newcomers Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov are not producing at the expected rate, and neither is Charlie Coyle.

Trent Frederic has key trade value for Bruins

However, the Bruins are also expecting quite a bit from center Trent Frederic, and he is not delivering what the team needs.

The Bruins have long been a team that demonstrates its physical edge with tough play in the corners and a willingness to engage in physical battles. Frederic has taken the baton from the team's most physical players in the past, including Zdeno Chara, Shawn Thornton and Milan Lucic, but he is struggling to assert himself this year.

Frederic is a solid all-around player, but he is underproducing this year with 5 goals and 6 assists for 11 points in 34 games. He also has just 28 penalty minutes to this point in the season.

Trading Frederic could help the team's offensive output. Even though the season has not been productive for the forward, he still has quite a bit of value.

When Frederic is at his best, he can contribute at a similar level to Washington's Tom Wilson. Frederic is a willing scrapper and he has taken on Wilson in the past. He also has the skills to score 15 to 20 goals in a season.

This makes him valuable in the eyes of Boston's NHL competitors, and the Bruins might be able to acquire a key offensive player in a trade for Frederic.

The Bruins are not going to trade Swayman or Pastrnak, and it's also unlikely that they would move Marchand. They don't have a lot of front-line talent to offer, but Frederic has shown that he has quite a bit of value and trading him could bring the team the offensive upgrade the team needs to get back to serious contender status.