There are very few beat reporters that don't relay exactly what they're told by the teams they cover. Most of them are scared to lose their access so they play nice, but some aren't afraid to challenge (Basu, MAG, Engels). Gagnon, Cantin and Réjean Tremblay will ask tough questions as well, but they don't have the proximity with the team anymore and are vets so they know they won't be pushed away if they ask hard ones.
There is a reason why Renaud Lavoie is the best insider for the Habs. You'll never hear him criticize the Habs management. Whenever he's on radio or any text he writes, he's basically just spinning what the Habs Management want to say. Habs repay him by letting him know first when there are roster moves or stuff happening.
Case in point:
Lettre à Mario Dumont - TVA Sports
Here Renaud of course defends the management, and he uses the Habs/Bergevin line. Nevermind the politics stuff where clearly he doesn't know what he's talking about.
All this to say that I don't blame Friolet from relaying the info, but it would be nice for him to compare that stat (number of players used) with what happened with the rest of the league just like WhiteSnake did. He probably doesn't want to stir the soup now that the season is over though and I can understand that.