Elias Lindholm has not lived up to expectations early on.
The Boston Bruins signed Elias Lindholm to a seven-year contract in NHL Free Agency. Boston had an interest in the veteran center for a while. In fact, the Bruins were rumored to have trade interest in Lindholm despite him already having been dealt to the Vancouver Canucks. Signing him on the open market certainly made sense.
However, the early returns are not encouraging. He ranks third on the team with nine points in 17 games. But only two of those points are goals. Moreover, he has gone 16 straight games without finding the back of the net. His last goal came on October 12 against the Los Angeles Kings in an overtime win.
The veteran pivot is not looking to shift blame onto anyone else. “I think overall, for myself, I just haven’t been good enough,” the Bruins center said, 98.5 The Sports Hub's Ty Anderson. “Wouldn’t put the blame on something else other than myself. I gotta be better.”
How Bruins' Elias Lindholm can turn things around
Elias Lindholm has a solid track record in the NHL. He has shown the ability to elevate his game to match the play of his linemates. Take his 2021-22 season, for instance. He scored 42 goals and 82 points for the Calgary Flames when flanked by Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk.
Gaudreau and Tkachuk left the Flames that summer for other teams. Lindholm remained a solid center who could help his line offensively. But he has not reached those heights since. The Bruins are hoping he can do so again, given that he's playing with Brad Marchand on one of his wings.
Lindholm has an idea for how he can start turning things around. “For myself, I think just gotta be more involved,” the Bruins pivot told Anderson. “For 60 minutes, [I’m] not doing too much out there… just kind of skating up and down the ice. I gotta be more involved and want the puck more.”
He went on to say that one's confidence level is tied to how involved a player is. A confident player is looking to be around the puck and make the crucial players. However, when things aren't breaking your way, a player tends to shrink away from the play as their confidence is low.
Whether more involvement is what breaks Lindholm's slump remains to be seen. In any event, he is a crucial player for Boston. They need him to figure things out sooner rather than later if they want to go on a deep playoff run in 2024-25.
