It’s been known for months that the Bruins were going to be looking for a top-six center this summer.
Indeed, the biggest surprise of the offseason for Boston came shortly after the official start of NHL free agency Monday, with the Bruins signing 29-year-old center Elias Lindholm to a seven-year contract with an annual salary cap hit of $7.75 million.
Lindholm will add some two-way balance to Boston’s top-six unit, though there are some questions about his ceiling as a true first-line center — especially given his $7.75 million annual price tag.
Here are five things to know about Boston’s new center:
He is considered one of the best two-way forwards in the league.
Lindholm may not have the offensive talent of Steven Stamkos or the shooting power of Chandler Stephenson. But the 29-year-old forward has plenty of qualities for a Bruins team that places a lot of the defensive responsibility on its centers.
Even with a dip in base production last season, Lindholm has long been considered one of the most consistent 200-footers in the NHL.
In his 11 NHL seasons, the former fifth overall pick in the 2013 NHL Draft has topped the 50-point threshold four times, including a breakout campaign in 2021-22 in Calgary, where he lit the lamp 42 times and added 40 assists in 82 games.
That 80-point campaign may be an outlier, as he generated those numbers with two elite point guards in Matthew Tkachuk and Johnny Gaudreau. Still, Lindholm should be considered a 45- to 60-point player in Boston, especially if he’s skating alongside David Pastrnak in a top-line role.
Beyond his base production, Lindholm’s defensive play, positioning and hockey IQ allow him to impact the game every time he jumps over the boards.
He finished second in 2021-22 Selke Trophy voting (behind Patrice Bergeron) for the league’s top defensive forward, while posting solid faceoff numbers throughout his career (53.4 percent).
“I try to model myself after Bergeron as much as I can,” Lindholm said of his time in Boston. “I don’t want to compare myself to him or anything like that. But I think I can bring a little bit of what he did.”
Given Boston’s inconsistent performance at the point last postseason, Lindholm should solidify that area of the game, while his ability to shut down opposing skaters will come in handy against what will be another stacked field in the Eastern Conference next season.
Lindholm coming off tough season
Despite his sizable pay raise this offseason, Lindholm’s stock has taken a hit in 2023-24 with the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks. After averaging 32 goals and 73 points over his last two full seasons in Calgary (2021-23), Lindholm was limited to just 44 points (15 goals, 29 assists) in 75 games with the Flames and Canucks this winter.
Part of that decline could be the result of him being a square peg in a round hole in Vancouver, with the Canucks both moving him to the wing and later demoting him to 3C with Elias Pettersson and JT Miller already on the depth chart.
But Lindholm has raised his game during the playoffs for Vancouver, recording 10 points in their 13 post-season meetings while finishing the 2023-24 campaign with a career-best 56.4 faceoff percentage.
While Lindholm may not be a consistent 40-goal player, a full season alongside Pastrnak should see him regularly score 60 points or more, while continuing to bolster the team’s stingy defensive structure.
“Going into a season like this, you’re not sure what’s going to happen,” Lindholm said of his struggles last season. “And then after a while, you know you’re going to get traded, but you don’t know when or where or whatever.”
“It definitely affected me more than I expected. But I’m glad now that that period is over. And now I’ve known for a long time where I’m going to be and so on.”
He is not related to his Bruins teammate.
They may share the same last name, but Elias Lindholm is not related to current Bruins defenseman Hampus Lindholm. However, Boston’s new pivot received a text message from Hampus encouraging him to join Boston as a free agent.
Elias Lindholm has family ties to the NHL. His father, Mikael, played 18 games for the Los Angeles Kings in 1989-90, while Toronto Maple Leafs winger Calle Jarnkrok is Elias’ cousin.
Lindholm’s presence alone gives Boston options on offense
Beyond his two-way skills and rebounding ability, Lindholm’s arrival should also create a positive domino effect for the rest of Boston’s offensive corps.
Boston’s de facto center group of Charlie Coyle, Pavel Zacha, Morgan Geekie and Matthew Poitras all exceeded expectations last season, establishing themselves as key cogs capable of making things happen and impacting Boston’s game.
But while all four of those skaters should provide value to Boston in 2024-25, it became clear late last season that at least a few of those pivots were playing in roles beyond their abilities.
With Poitras sidelined for the final four months of the season due to shoulder surgery, Coyle and Zacha both finished with just two goals in Boston’s 13 playoff games, prompting Jim Montgomery to put Geekie on the first line against the Panthers.
With Lindholm likely locking down the top-line center position, Boston has the leverage to move Zacha to the wing (where he played his best hockey with the Bruins), or even push Coyle to the third line where he could exploit matchups and lead the play against lesser competition.
The Bruins have long coveted Lindholm
Lindholm’s arrival on the open market finally allowed Boston to land the veteran center in a big-money deal, but it wasn’t the first time Don Sweeney and his team were linked to the defensive-minded pivot.
Boston was linked to Lindholm in trade rumors earlier this season when Calgary was entertaining offers for him — given the Bruins’ obvious need for reinforcements up front.
But even after Vancouver acquired him on Jan. 31, there were reports that Boston had backtracked and was interested in prying Lindholm away from the Canucks before the trade deadline in March. It would have been a roller coaster ride for Lindholm, with the Canucks reportedly looking to move him in order to try to bring in Jake Guentzel in a blockbuster trade with the Penguins.
Guentzel was eventually traded to the Hurricanes and Lindholm remained in Vancouver for the remainder of the season, but Boston finally got its man minutes into free agency Monday.
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