At this point in his career with the Boston Bruins, it’s probably time to drastically lower expectations for what Elias Lindholm is going to be for the next handful of years.
That seems more reasonable than continuing to bang the drum that the player is a disappointment, or that the contract is one of the worst handed out in team history based on the term, the money involved and the modest returns in each of the first two seasons in Boston.
The 31-year-old center has been remarkably consistent, posting 15 goals and 47.5 points in his first two seasons with the Black and Gold while battling back problems in each of those first two years. But that consistency is underwhelming rather than a picture of bringing high-level performance to the table.
He’s never been the top-line playmaking pivot-type that could seemingly work best with David Pastrnak, and truth be told, he hasn’t even been the airtight defensive two-way center he was reputed to be while finishing as a minus player in each of his first two seasons in Boston either.
Lindholm is very strong on faceoffs in all situations, has a good enough shot to flirt with 20 goals in most seasons where he stays healthy, and is a good supporting center that’s likely best served as a third-line mainstay. That’s not exactly what was envisioned for a player who’s signed for five more seasons at $7.75 million per season and has a full no-movement clause for the next three seasons before it becomes a modified no-trade clause (10 teams) for the final two seasons of his contract in Boston.
So he’s not going anywhere for any Bruins fans out there daydreaming about trade scenarios or getting out from under a contract that the player is not going to live up to during his time in Boston.
The Lindholm contract is problematic from another point of view, as well, as it could give the B’s major pause at paying out 29-year-old looming free agent center Pavel Zacha for fears of having too much cap space tied up in aging middle-6 center-types down the middle.
Still, Zacha looks like a player who’s continuing to improve and elevate in his game, while Lindholm undeniably looks like a hockey player on the slow decline.
The bottom line for Lindholm, though, is that he needs to take this summer to
