Oilers forward may be healthy scratched for awful effort on one specific play

Frederic was signed to an 8 year, $30.8M contract this offseason after the Oilers paid a heavy price to acquire him at the trade deadline. The Oilers have poured in tons of resources to Frederic, and have got nothing in return.

Frederic has just 4 points in 34 games with a -9 rating. It would be one thing if he just wasn't scoring - but he's not providing anything positive in the lineup at all. He's been demoted to the 4th line, and rarely plays more than 9 minutes a game. It's definitely not the return the Oilers were hoping for on his 8 year contract.

But last night against the Penguins, Frederic did something that's unacceptable, and of which there has to be some accountability. Frederic completely gave up on a defensive play, and allowed the Penguins to walk in and score with 0 effort.

The Oilers next game is against Frederic's former team in the Boston Bruins, but analyst Bruce Curlock believes the time is now for a healthy scratch. That level of effort is something a cup contender simply can't tolerate.

However, the Oilers are in trouble with Frederic. Just one healthy scratch isn't going to do much to help Frederic find his game over the next 7 years.

Some argue the Oilers need to find a way to get more value out of Frederic by giving him a penalty kill roll, but other forwards are filling those jobs just fine. If anything, Frederic's been so bad he'd make the PK worse. By HockeyStatCards net rating, he's been the 6th worst NHLer this year.

The best option in front of the Oilers at this point may actually be a decade-plus buyout for Frederic. It would cost the team, but free up valuable cap space in their win-now window. If they don't believe Frederic will turn it around, doing it this offseason would be best.

Some accountability from the coaching staff would be a good place to start before a buyout, though. The Oilers should scratch Frederic soon, and see if he responds at all to the wake up call.