Frederic did spend a little time playing center last game, but most of it was spent on the wing. I get your sentiment, and I'd agree that this isn't ideal. Challenge for the coach is he's got Beecher fairly scratched, Poitras unavailable, and he's really liking Geekie centering Zacha and Pasta because that's working pretty well. Which only leaves Freddie and Merkulov as potential bottom 6 Cs, maybe Heinen who has played pivot in the past but it's a long time ago now.
Hence this is what we get. Trent's still playing with 2 good linemates. They're a little bit of an odd combination but the talent is there. Hopefully it works out. This roster lacks depth, we all know this, so sometimes we get compromises like this, and if Monty juggles things around more than I would like, often the reasons for doing so are at least arguable.