"I think it was a good year. I think I came out hot," said Frederic. "I'm sure there's points where I wasn't as good of a player as I wanted to be and there's times where I played well. I thought overall it was a good season. It was a bummer we came up short, but overall, it was a good season."
After entering the season with just 17 games of NHL experience, the University of Wisconsin product found himself in the Opening Night lineup against New Jersey after an injury to Craig Smith caused the newcomer to be a late scratch.Frederic acquitted himself well and showed off his pugilistic abilities by mixing it up with Devils defenseman P.K. Subban.
That rough-and-tumble approach - which also included two scraps with Washington heavyweight Tom Wilson - quickly endeared him to the Boston fanbase and his teammates and helped to solidify a spot in the lineup for the majority of the season.
"For sure, getting my feet wet," said Frederic. "I think this was just the beginning for my hockey career, and I think I have a lot more to offer. Obviously, I was disappointed that we didn't make it and that we're not playing right now. Obviously, I wanted to help out as well. But everything happens for a reason and sometimes it's out of your control and you just have to keep working hard and work for the next day."
Frederic, of course, was referring to the second half of his season, which was derailed in part by an unknown illness that was not related to COVID-19.
"I had a fever. I think it was lower 100s for a couple days, so we don't really know exactly what it was, but it wasn't COVID," said Frederic. "It was worse than when I had COVID [last year], to be honest. But I know some people had COVID worse than others."
The former first-round pick played just six games without registering a point after April 6, finishing the season with four goals (three of them game winners), five points, and 65 penalty minutes in 42 games. Frederic believes that to become a more complete player, he will need to work on getting quicker - both with his feet and his hands - this summer.
"What I need to work on is probably just my skating, more confidence with the puck. Making that right play with confidence," said Frederic. "Just off transitions and standing still. That's something I think I could work on, something that I could improve on as a bigger person with bigger feet. That's something that I'm really making a point of emphasis to do.
"I'm lucky enough to have a little something in my basement that I've been stickhandling and shooting with. I'm obviously going to do that. Obviously, everybody needs to work on their hands. I'm going to try to do as much as I can."
Frederic is not yet sure what coach Bruce Cassidy and his staff has planned for him come the fall, though his focus will remain on reclaiming a permanent place in the B's lineup moving forward.
"Obviously, I have to come in next year and prove my worth, just getting in the lineup and then just like any year, lines get shuffled…Game 1 or Game 2, or Game 52 could be completely different," said Frederic. "So, I guess we'll just have to see. I don't know exactly, either. That's what I'm striving towards. I've got a lot of work to become that. I think I have the ability to become it and I think I will, but obviously I have some work to do for that."
