Edmonton Oilers' replacements for duds Mangiapane, Frederic are already here

It’s official.

Andrew Mangiapane and Trent Frederic are dead weight when it comes to the Edmonton Oilers lineup.

If Tuesday’s 6-2 win over the visiting Nashville Predators wasn’t evidence enough to convince general manager Stan Bowman to get over his sunk-cost fallacy when it comes to the two horrendously underperforming forwards, then there is no hope of his team rising to the ranks of the NHL’s elite in time for a third straight playoff run.

Sure, the Oilers are sitting atop the Pacific Division with 46 points, but that wouldn’t be enough to claim third place in any of the other three more competitive divisions right now. And certainly not the ultra-competitive Central Division next door, where the Colorado Avalanche are running away with the President’s trophy race with 67 points, and the runners-up are even double-digits ahead of Edmonton.

The difference between those teams and the Oilers is they haven’t been hauling around passengers on a sight-seeing tour of NHL markets for the entire first half of the season. And it’s high time the Oilers started taking steps to trim the fat.

Case in point: Both Mangiapane and Frederic were healthy scratches together for the first time Tuesday, putting close to $7.5 million up in the press box where they watched their replacements do what must have seemed impossible to them.

After all, Mangiapane has all of 11 points (five goals, six assists) in 40 games after bouncing all up and down the lineup over the first half of the season, well short of expectations coming in as the Oilers’ top free-agent acquisition over the off-season.

At least Mangiapane is just a two-year sting at $3.6 million annually. The real sunken cost comes into play with Frederic, who signed an incredibly out-of-left-field eight-year deal paying him $3.85 million a season that has made Oilers brass so adamant he be given endless chances to work out.

It’s resulted in two goals and one assist over 41 games — and all that works out to is $1.28 million per point, so far. And 0.07 points per game, which is lower than every other forward, and all but the two latest arrivals on defence.

Even Jakob Markstrom, who just got lit up for nine goals on 24 shots Tuesday, has two assists on the season. Twice as many as Frederic, and he’s only played 22 games. He’s tied for second behind Joey Daccord in Seattle, with three assists in 26 games. So, congratulations, Trent, you have as many points as the NHL’s top offensive producing goaltender.

It would be different if Frederic was the physical force the Oilers thought they were getting — and so desperately need — (anyone have Connor Clattenburg’s number?).

While he has two fights where he mostly resembled the bug side of the windshield, Frederic refuses to get in and mix it up in any real capacity that makes a difference. Connor McDavid continues to get his tower buzzed with no repercussions, while Frederic fails to kick up dust in the face of the opposition whenever his team could use a spark out there.

If he’s not imposing his physical presence or putting put points out on the ice, perhaps he will have better luck up in the press box.

In the meantime, we watched Curtis Lazar score in his place on the fourth line Tuesday, in between Mattias Janmark and a combination of Matt Savoie and Jack Roslovic, after an early injury to Adam Henrique left the Oilers playing with 11 forwards. That gives Lazar three goals on the season and as many points as Frederic, despite playing just 21 games.

“He played really well, obviously, getting a goal there,” head coach Kris Knoblauch said. “Him and Janmark together played well and rotated their wingers, Roslovic or Savoie.

“Laser’s an important player to have in the lineup, taking D-zone face-offs and when you need him, you can rely on him. He’s played really well. I know he’s been in and out of the lineup, but I think he’s been very dependable.”

Hmmm. Reliable. Dependable. Sounds like the Oilers might be following up on a new year’s resolution when it comes to their approach in their bottom six.

Mangiapane, meanwhile, was scratched for the second game in a row, and third in the last four, while Kasperi Kapanen came in to play his first game since Oct. 19 after re-aggravating a knee injury. All he did was score, himself, and also set up a struggling Leon Draisaitl for his first even-strength goal in over a month.

“The guys are so happy for him,” Knoblauch said. “Here’s a guy that worked incredibly hard to get back in the lineup and here he comes back in his first game and gets a goal and an assist.

“We knew that he was going to help us. Not necessarily on the score sheet, but his physicality and just all-around game. That’s what we expect from him. And after taking almost three months off, we were not expecting that, but he put in the work.”

E-mail: gmoddejonge@postmedia.com

On X: @StarkRavinMod

Related

Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don’t miss the news you need to know — add EdmontonJournal.com and EdmontonSun.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here.

You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Edmonton Journal | The Edmonton Sun.