Bruins
“I think we have a good chance to do something special.”
Elias Lindholm has been in his new home in the Boston area for over a month now.
With a new baby on the way, the Lindholms wanted to settle in early. So far, the transition has been seamless for Lindholm in his move to Boston and the pressure that comes with playing in this market.
Well, nearly seamless.
“Not a huge fan, but I’ll get used to it,” Lindholm said of navigating the traffic in Boston.
Even with those expected learning curves when it comes trudging through traffic jams on 93 and the Mass Pike, Lindholm already feels like a natural fit on his new team.
A veteran, top-six center with an established two-way pedigree, Lindholm may not be Patrice Bergeron — but one of his new teammates can see the links between both 200-foot pivots.
“You bring a guy that plays a 200-foot game, that’s extremely responsible — certainly don’t want to compare the two, but we had someone like that for a long time that plays a game in our system,” Charlie McAvoy said of Lindholm and Bergeron. “We’re a defensive-first team. We really take a lot of pride in that side of the ice. So we have him now, and I think he’s going to fit perfectly here.”
The headliner in Boston’s free-agency spending spree, Lindholm is expected to bolster an already strong foundation of talent with the Bruins — giving Boston a proven first-line center, defensive stalwart capable of negating top-six matchups, and ace at the faceoff dot.
“I think there’s a lot of good players here, it’s a really good team,” Lindholm said. “I think last season, they were right there with Florida and had a good matchup — and obviously Florida ended up winning. So I think this team has obviously a lot of good pieces, and hopefully I can come in and add to this group and hopefully add some depth to a really strong group already.”
Lindholm’s resume speaks for itself when it comes to his on-ice impact. The 29-year-old center has three 60-plus point seasons on his resume, headlined by a 42-goal, 82-point output with Calgary in 2021-22. He finished second behind Bergeron in voting for the Selke Trophy as the league’s top defensive forward that same season.
But Lindholm is coming off of a bit of a down year, with the Swede limited to just 44 points (15 goals, 29 assists) over 75 games with both the Flames and Canucks during the 2023-24 season.
Granted, some of that was a result of his odd placement on Vancouver’s roster, with Lindholm earning reps at both third-line center and on top-six wing due to Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller occupying the top-two pivot spots.
But Lindholm managed to find his game at the right time with Vancouver, scoring 10 points in 13 postseason games — while his 56.4 faceoff percentage in 2023-24 stood as a career-high.
“I always looked at myself as a two-way forward,” Lindholm said. “Obviously, I think I can produce points. And obviously last season didn’t go as well as I would like to. But I think in the playoffs, I kind of found my game again and that’s kind of how I want to play.”
A full season stapled next to David Pastrnak should help Lindholm rekindle more of his scoring touch in Boston, especially when factoring in his expected role at the bumper spot on the power play.
The veteran centerman didn’t want to delve into lineup decisions with training camp just under two weeks away. But Lindholm’s own skillset and a strong supporting cast should allow both him and the Bruins to flourish moving forward.
“He’s one of the best players in the league,” Lindholm said of playing with Pastrnak. “Obviously, if that’s the case, it’s super exciting, but we’ll see what’s going to happen. There’s a lot of good players on this team, and that’s why I wanted to come here.
“I think we have a good chance to do something special. And obviously you always want to win. And I feel like, right here, we have a good chance.”
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