The Bruins have found their top-four horse on the blue line.
Ahead of another grueling playoff push, Boston has upgraded the left side of its defense — with the Bruins announcing on Saturday afternoon that they have traded for Anaheim Ducks blueliner Hampus Lindholm. The Ducks are also sending Boston Kodie Curran, a 32-year-old AHL defenseman, in the swap.
In exchange, the Bruins are sending a 2022 first-round pick, a 2023 second-round pick, a 2024 second-round pick, John Moore and Urho Vaakanainen to the Ducks. Anaheim will retain 50 percent of Lindholm's remaining AAV this season.
Another key nugget of information involves Lindholm’s contract status, as the 28-year-old defenseman is set to hit free agency this summer. As expected — especially given the reported return — the Bruins and Lindholm's camp are already reportedly working on a long-term extension, locking the veteran defenseman in Boston’s D corps for the foreseeable future.
In terms of Lindholm’s talents, we’ll refer to our summary of the Ducks defenseman from back in February:
Not necessarily breaking new ground here … but yes, a plus in any Lindholm deal is that the 28-year-old defenseman is a legit piece on any D corps.
When it comes to identifying what the Bruins might be looking for with a blue-line target at the deadline, a player like Lindholm checks off plenty of boxes.
- Minutes-eater? Yes. (He’s averaged 22:12 minutes of ice time per game over his career, including 22:52 this season.
- Size? Yep. (6-foot-4, 216 pounds).
- Offensively gifted? Sure thing. (He’s surpassed 30 points in three of his eight seasons so far, and is on pace to surpass that threshold once again this year).
- In his prime? Mhm. (He just turned 28 a month ago.)
He may not be a bruising body despite his larger frame, but Lindholm is a dependable presence that can log heavy reps, add some much-needed scoring pop at even-strength action and could really stabilize the rest of Boston’s D corps.
When it comes to finding a quick-fix solution for a Bruins defense that really hasn’t seen any of their pairings gain a steady amount of traction, Lindholm makes plenty of sense.
Even though Lindholm’s underlying metrics have dipped some this season with Anaheim, some context might assuage some of those concerns about his fit in Boston — both in the short and especially long-term outlook.
While Lindholm’s WAR totals have been on a bit of a downward trend, the blueliner has also been primarily paired with 19-year-old Jamie Drysdale, with the youngster going through his fair share of struggles all year for Anaheim.
Whether it be forming a super-pairing next to Charlie McAvoy or on the second pair next to a stronger right-side partner in Brandon Carlo (especially when compared to Drysdale), there stands a good chance that Lindholm’s analytics are set to soar in Boston’s stingy defensive structure.