Oilers have an unbelievable Trent Frederic $30 million contract problem

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Oilers have an unbelievable Trent Frederic $30 million contract problem originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

It's the type of thing that makes you pause as soon as you see it.

Trent Frederic's contract with the Edmonton Oilers is... what?

This was the first year of Frederic's current pact with the Oilers.

And believe it or not, he has seven years to go.

He signed a deal before the season for eight years that will pay him $3.85 million per season for the course of the deal, a total value of $30.8 million.

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This is the same guy who played 74 games for the Oilers this season, scored four goals with three assists, was a minus-15 and averaged 11 minutes per night.

Yes, he's a physical guy whose role isn't to score. He had 193 hits. He won 57.1% of his faceoffs, a massive career-best.

But still, he's also on a contract that keeps the Oilers with him through his age-35 season.

Was there competition for Frederic to this extent last offseason that the Oilers' best option was to give him an eight-year deal?

There's almost no chance if they had given him a shorter contract and then wanted to re-sign him in two or three years that he would've commanded more on an annual basis at that time.

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It seems a deal the Oilers went after for pretty much no reason.

And while there's no real reason to blame Frederic for what happened in the Oilers' season, which ended with a first-round playoff loss on Thursday night, he also didn't particularly help the cause. If anything, his contract is an example of a front office that has made some odd moves in recent years.

You've gotta hope Frederic likes Edmonton, because of all the players on this roster, his contract makes him one of the least likely to end up anywhere else anytime soon.

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