Lindholm has far greater two-way ability than Skinner and he also plays with more edge. I mean just look at Lindholm's career PK minutes= 1334 mins to J. Skinner's= 59 mins and Skinner is the older of the 2 players.
E. Lindholm is like 2 notches removed from the ideal B's player mold, Skinner is more like 5 notches removed. I also think it is a bit premature to view them signing him as a mistake he was quite slow adjusting to the Nucks as well, but started playing far better after the initial adjustment phase.
I don't disagree with anything you write. But my point was simply that gone are the days when teams like the Bruins stick to a type. They added Lindholm because they were stripped completely of skill at the center position when Bergeron and Krejci retired. He's a fine two way player but has always been inconsistent when asked to carry offense on his own. And while he may have more of an edge than Skinner, he's definitely no Stan Jonathan. His two big years have been riding shotgun with more talented players. Zacha has come a long ways (loved the guy in Sarnia) but he is far from a proven play driver. More of a solid two way center who would be a #2 on a lot of teams in the league. Together Zacha and Lindholm are a big step down from Bergeron and Krejci.
Again, if you read my post I did not claim that the Bruins would be actively looking at Skinner. My original post was in reference to why Skinner might actually wave his NMC to go to a team like Boston where he might have more of a chance to play a bigger role should he continue to flounder in Edmonton. I've watched Skinner since he was a kid playing here in Kitchener. At this point his flaws are well know, But it is also the case that he can get hot and when he does he can do the most difficult thing in hockey far better than most, he scores goals. Coming into this year he scored 92 in his last 3 years. Boston right now has few natural goal scorers anywhere close to a hot Skinner. Pasta is in a fun Marchand is aging fast.