Player Discussion Elias Lindholm
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In Elias Lindholm, Bruins could have a center in the Patrice Bergeron mold - The Boston Globe
The veteran is a solid 200-foot player with offensive flair and a defensive mind-set, and he has long been coveted by the Bruins.
www.bostonglobe.com
Jill Lindholm is a hockey mom.
It matters not that her son, Elias, is an 11-year NHL veteran or even that her husband, Mikael, also played hockey for a living.
Hockey moms know hockey, and Jill Lindholm has her opinions, and she’s going to let her son (and husband) know her likes and dislikes about his game.
Elias paused when asked about the influence his father had on his development as a youth player.
“Tons,” he said. “I was always the kid that had a dad that played in NHL. But it kind of motivated me to always be better and to try to be better than him and try to do more and so on. But he was always so good to me and obviously helped me tons.”
Mikael coached Elias for a few seasons and attended nearly all of his games. As his son got older, Mikael backed off, offering just hints and tidbits here and there as Elias molded his own game.
“I think my mom is trying to do more of the coaching side now,” Elias said with a chuckle. “But they kind of know now how I work and so on and they let me do my thing.”
Good parental strategy.
Doing his thing has allowed Lindholm to become one of the top two-way centers in the game, and it’s why the Bruins have coveted him for years.
An easy decision
After myriad rumors that had Lindholm heading to Boston at several points the last few years, general manager Don Sweeney finally got his man on July 1, inking Lindholm to a seven-year deal with an annual salary-cap hit of $7.75 million.The rumors had quieted for a bit after Calgary shipped Lindholm to Vancouver last January for a substantial package that included a 2024 first-round pick, Andrei Kuzmenko, Hunter Brzustewicz, Joni Jurmo, and a 2024 fourth-rounder.
It seemed logical that the Canucks’ next step would be to open up the checkbook and lock up Lindholm for the foreseeable future. However, they cut a big check to another Elias, securing Elias Pettersson with an eight-year, $92.8 million deal. The ink was barely dry on that contact when the Lindholm-to-Boston chatter heated up again, gaining steam as the trade deadline approached.
Lindholm tried blocking out the noise but acknowledged it was an unsettling time hearing his name attached to so many reports.
“It affected me more than I was hoping, but you always kind of try to push it away and focus on the hockey side,” he said, “but at the same time, there’s a lot of stuff going on and outside noise and obviously these days everyone has social media and you’re in the locker room and people read stuff and kind of tell you what’s going on even though you try to push it aside.”
A natural center, Lindholm was shifted to wing by the Canucks, and it took a while to get adjusted. After going 6-6—12 in 26 regular-season games, he had a strong playoff run with 5 goals and 10 points in 13 games.
When the season ended, Lindholm suddenly was a free agent for the first time, and he felt a sense of uneasiness as he pondered his next move. A call from Sweeney put his mind at ease.
“I’ve never been a part of it before, so it was kind of stressful,” said Lindholm, the fifth overall pick by the Hurricanes in the 2013 draft. “And then obviously when Boston came in, it was kind of an easy decision for me to make.
“I always kind of felt somehow that it was meant to be, but now I was always excited about Boston and obviously the culture here and all the players that have been playing here and obviously it’s a great team. So yeah, I was just super excited when I heard they were interested, so it was an easy decision.”
Lindholm, 29, was attracted to the Bruins because “they always find a way to compete” and their “passionate fan base.”
Lindholm, who has 218 goals and 557 points in 818 career games, fits the bill of what the Bruins have been searching for — a center whose game is in the Patrice Bergeron mold. He combines offensive flair with a defensive mind-set, allowing him to be responsible in all three zones. The comparisons are inevitable.
“You bring a guy that plays a 200-foot game that’s extremely responsible and certainly I don’t want to compare the two, but we had someone like that for a long time,” said Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy. “Someone that plays a game in our system that I think it’s no surprise we’re a defensive-first team. We really take a lot of pride in that side of the ice.
“So we have him now. I think he’s going to fit perfectly here.”
Bruins coach Jim Montgomery couldn’t hide his excitement about working with Lindholm.
“His ability to be able to play against anyone, his durability,” Montgomery said. “Talking to coaches that have worked with him, he plays through pain, he plays through injury. Teammates love playing with him and he’s low-maintenance. As a coach, that’s music to your ears. He reminds me a lot of other great centermen we’ve had here.”
Pride in his two-way game
Lindholm has heard the comparisons to Bergeron, and he isn’t shying away from them.“You look at the player like Patrice ... when you came into the league, everyone probably, or a lot of guys probably think they’re going to score a lot of points and so on and so on, and sooner or later you kind of find a role, and I feel like I try to look a lot at what he was doing out there,” he said.
“Not just him, but there’s a lot of guys, [Anze] Kopitar and so on. There’s a lot of good players that I tried to look at, and obviously when you compete out there against them, it’s always tough. They’re always in the right spot and have a good stick and so on.
“So you kind of look at those guys and try to improve your own game and put a little bit here and there from everyone. But I always took a lot of pride in the two-way game.”
“Working with [Rod] Brind’Amour for a long time in Carolina helped me tons,” said Lindholm of the Hurricanes coach who was a two-time Selke Trophy winner as the league’s top defensive forward.
Lindholm was traded to Calgary in the 2018 offseason (a deal that included former Bruins first-round pick Dougie Hamilton) and went on a five-plus-season run in which he was the centerpiece on one of the best lines in the game with Matthew Tkachuk and the late great Johnny Gaudreau.
Now he’ll likely get a chance to team with prolific scorer David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha in Boston.
“If that’s the case, it’s exciting,” said Lindholm, who was born in Sweden. “There’s obviously a lot of good players here, so wherever I play it’s just exciting with a new start, fresh start and so on.
“But obviously playing against those two, it’s a lot of fun to watch them out there. They seem to have good chemistry and Pasta has been a superstar in this league for a long time and so if that’s the case, it’s exciting.
“That’s a little European connection, so it could be fun.”
Lindholm arrived in the city in late August, and though he’s not a fan of the local traffic scene, he and his wife, Annica, are settling in as they prepare for the arrival of their second child early next month. He believes his transition to his new Black and Gold threads will be a seamless one.
“It was exciting signing with Boston,” he said. “Obviously Original Six, but I feel like Boston always plays the right way, plays the hard way, and I feel like my game is a good way to play and hopefully I can fit in pretty good here.”
Bruins Nation — and Mamma Jill — are counting on it.
Dennis Bonvie
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EverettMike
FIRE DON SWEENEY INTO THE SUN
"It's not a strong suit" was probably the better way to say what I meant.
Bmessy
Registered User
Lots of "bumper" position goals which is nice. Gaudreau set this guy up beautifully on almost every goal. RIP
Lindholm "just" had to find the space and finish, but seriously tons of great looks from that dominant line. Hope he and Pasta can find some nice chemistry out there. Also curious to see how Poitras will fit in, he loves dishing the puck and that could fit well with Lindholm on the wing.
This is the problem. If it does turn out that Lindholm and Pasta don't gel well together, the alternatives are not attractive. Pasta spent 350 mins 5v5 with Coyle over the last 3 seasons for a grand total of 14 goals for, 20 against. Pasta's GF% with Coyle was 23% lower in that time than it was when he was playing with anyone else. Coyle centering Pasta underwhelms, to say the least. Poitras, yeah maybe, but it's asking a lot of him to step up and run a top line at this early stage. In time, hopefully, but too soon may be detrimental. Geekie or even Freddy could do it in short bursts perhaps, but would have no business taking on that role long-term. I don't want to see Zacha playing center again. It's a waste of his talent, plus that creates other problems anyway.
So it has to be Lindy first, and we have to hope it works, because otherwise we're banking on Matty P to take a major step up or Coyle to show an ability he hasn't to date. I get where you're coming from - Lindholm is more of a shooting center than Pasta is probably used to, but he can dish the puck too. To me he's an all-rounder. In his good years he's averaged around 10-15 primary assists 5v5 a season, which perhaps doesn't sound like a lot but it's about the same as Bergeron. Solid, in other words. Pasta, for his part, is not all about shooting. He has a sometimes undervalued passing game, IMO. Zacha can both setup and finish as well.
So while it probably is going to take a little adjusting and time, I think the potential for a Zacha-Lindy-Pasta line to work really well is very much there. All three can both give it and send it. If you look at Lindholm's best season, with Gaudreau (RIP) and Tkachuk, all three bagged 40 goals each that year. They shared it around, and opposing teams had real trouble shutting them down partly because they were a scoring threat in so many different ways. You need good chemistry to really make that work and not have guys tripping over each other, but I think we can hope to see something similar with Lindholm & co. in Boston. It's not going to be a 100-point line like the Flames one was - the Bruins simply don't play that way - but if we're lucky it will produce at a solid rate. Chances are it will need to for Boston to be a serious contender.
OH! nothing unusual with a 7 year, nearly 8 mil contract, that never should have been given, may I suggest that you possibly might see more of this.
I think there is a rule that if your total contract worth is over $50m you aren't allowed any sick days.
EverettMike
FIRE DON SWEENEY INTO THE SUN
I don't agree with this at all tbh. Pasta isn't a pure goalscorer anymore, he's a complete one man offensive engine that creates as many chances as he finishes. Having a centerman that can do the dirty work along the boards and find open space should be a good fit.
I thought it was reported that he had gotten sick while recovering from injury. He legit got hurt in camp last week and was day to day.
His wife is due to give birth any day now, if she hasn't already. Most likely his absence is related to that.
Kegs
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I don’t know. He is pretty good at passing the puck. I think you might be eating these words in the future.
EverettMike
FIRE DON SWEENEY INTO THE SUN
The Storm
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- Mar 15, 2022
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Turns out he won't play for at least this week. Hopefully not much longer than that.
UncleRico
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- May 8, 2017
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I just pray he returns to form. If we get last years version of Elias Lindholm we are in big trouble
UncleRico
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It would be one heck of a sickness. He’s been out 5 days and Ty Anderson said he won’t be playing this week.
I’m assuming it’s some type of injury considering the length of time. Just hope it’s not the wrist injury that plagued him last year.
SwayHeyKid
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- Mar 14, 2022
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Playmaking centers with wrist injuries typically excel in this league, so that's good.
goldenblack
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Here's the thing: We are starting to see absolutely elite level passing coming out of Pasta. And he's not at his ceiling there yet, he has levels still. With how good Zacha and Pasta are at passing, it's going to be very exciting to me that all 3 of these guys can do both.
The fact that other guys on the line have a shot (when they decide to use it), is going to open up Pasta's shot. I am excite.
MarchysNoseKnows
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- Feb 14, 2018
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I’ve had the plague for a week - this thing that’s going around is ridiculously debilitating. Not saying that’s what it is but if he has what I have it’s hard to walk around much less skate at an elite level.
