After helping the Vancouver Canucks come within one victory of a trip to the Western Conference Final in 2023-24, Elias Lindholm joined the Boston Bruins as a free agent last summer. But it was a difficult first campaign in Beantown for the Swede, who managed his lowest point total in a full season since 2017-18.
It was also a miserable year for the Bruins, who waved the white flag at the trade deadline and ended up finishing dead last in the Atlantic Division with a 33-39-10 record.
Despite not missing a single game, Lindholm revealed during exit interviews that he dealt with a back injury all year long. He reiterated that to Daily Faceoff's Ronnie Ronnkvist last week.
“The season wasn’t great,” Lindholm admitted. “I didn’t get off to a strong start, had problems with my back, and missed the entire camp. To be able to play from the beginning, I had to take an injection, and it took a few weeks before it helped. I couldn’t do anything for a month or two, so I felt behind and had to catch up. It wasn’t a great start, but I hope this coming season can be better.”
Lindholm signed a seven-year, $54.25 million contract last offseason, and didn't expect the squad would struggle so much throughout the 2024-25 campaign.
“Before the season, it felt like we had a team that could do it, but a lot happened,” the 30-year-old continued. “No one really knew what would happen with [Brad] Marchand, and then we also had the coaching change. There were many distractions, and we traded away quite a few players, so it turned out the way it did. It was a season I’d rather forget.”
Elias Lindholm confident Bruins can get back to playoffs
The Bruins changed coaches midseason, traded their captain, and also watched as Brandon Carlo and Trent Frederic were shipped out. It seems like everything that could have went wrong, did go wrong in Boston — and that's not even considering long-term injuries to two key defensemen in Hampus Lindholm and Charlie McAvoy.
But Lindholm is confident the team can turn things around in his second season in Massachusetts.
“It’s going to be an interesting season. We’ve brought in some players, more hardworking types, so the feeling is that we’ve added more of a Boston style to our game,” he told Ronnkvist.
“Then we have [Pastrnak], and hopefully, I can get back to my game. McAvoy was a bit injured and missed most of last season. Now we get him back. Viktor [Arvidsson] is coming. [Jeremy] Swayman maybe didn’t have his best season… A lot went wrong, but hopefully, things will go better this season and allow us to make the playoffs at least.”
The Bruins are hoping Lindholm can return to the level that saw him amass a career-high 42 goals and 82 points in 82 games with the Calgary Flames in 2021-22 — a year that also saw the defensively responsible center earn a second-place finish in Selke Trophy voting.
It'll be interesting to see if Boston can turn things around and return to contention in the Eastern Conference in 2025-26.
