Elias Lindholm is never going to truly get away from the comparisons to Patrice Bergeron now that he’s signed a long-term deal with the Boston Bruins. Nor should he be given what kind of ultimate compliment that is for a player that prides himself on being a 200-foot, two-way center that’s going to majorly impact games at both ends of the ice for the Bruins starting this season and for a long time to come.
The Bruins noticed the very same parallels between the Swedish center and the B’s legend when they were scouting Lindholm as an amateur player, and those strong similarities have been there during an NHL career where he’s finished top-10 in Selke Trophy voting three times and was a finalist for the award in 2021-22 during his best season in the league while in Calgary.
Lindholm even referenced the ways in which he plays a Bergeron-like game after signing the seven-year, $54.25-million contract through his prime years that will keep him in Black and Gold until he’s a 36-year-old.
“I think [the Boston Bruins] are a good fit. Honestly, you know, playing in the League for a long time and kind of try to look at [Patrice] Bergeron as much as possible,” said Lindholm way back on July 1 after signing his free agent deal with the B’s. “I don't want to compare myself [to Bergeron] or anything like that, but I think I can bring a little bit of what he did. I obviously try to come here and bring my game and come back to the player I know I can be and hopefully help this team to achieve the Stanley Cup.”
The 29-year-old isn’t coming off a hugely productive regular season where he struggled at times in both Calgary and Vancouver, but it was a different story in the Stanley Cup playoffs where he posted five goals and 10 points in 13 games for the Canucks.
Things haven’t been quite as offense-driven for Lindholm in recent years as they were when he topped 40 goals and 80 points playing on a line with Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk a couple of seasons ago, but the confidence and skills are still fundamentally there to create offensively for both himself and his teammates.
“I always looked at myself as a two-way forward,” said Lindholm. “Obviously, I think I can produce points. And obviously last season didn’t go as well as I would like to. But I think in the playoffs, I kind of found my game again and that’s kind of how I want to play.”
And his new teammates see the parallels as well after doing a lot of trouble-shooting last season at the center position without a presence that fully filled the skates of No. 37 after retirement. Nobody is saying Lindholm is going to do exactly that, but his presence is expected to allow everybody to slot into the proper spot for maximum effectiveness while getting better center play up and down the lineup.
“You bring a guy that plays a 200-foot game, that’s extremely responsible — certainly don’t want to compare the two, but we had someone like that for a long time that plays a game in our system,” said Charlie McAvoy of Lindholm and Bergeron. “We’re a defensive-first team. We really take a lot of pride in that side of the ice. So we have him now, and I think he’s going to fit perfectly here.”
Lindholm arrived in Boston roughly a month ago to begin setting up for his first season in Boston, so he’s been able to skate with groups of players in informal workouts at Warrior during that time. It will take a great deal more for him to begin developing the highest level of chemistry that he’ll need with his teammates, but he’s impressed with a B’s group that’s been among the NHL’s best over the last handful of seasons.
“I think there’s a lot of good players here, it’s a really good team,” said Lindholm. “I think last season, they were right there with Florida and had a good matchup — and obviously Florida ended up winning. So I think this team has obviously a lot of good pieces, and hopefully I can come in and add to this group and hopefully add some depth to a really strong group already.”
Even more exciting for Lindholm is the prospect of centering David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha on a high-powered line that could bring out the kind of offense that he was putting out during his best days in Calgary. Couple that with an expected role as the bumper guy on Boston’s top power play unit and Lindholm could be looking for a real production surge in terms of goals, assists and points as a pivot next season.
“He’s one of the best players in the league,” Lindholm said of playing with Pastrnak. “Obviously, if that’s the case, it’s super exciting, but we’ll see what’s going to happen. There’s a lot of good players on this team, and that’s why I wanted to come here.
“I think we have a good chance to do something special. And obviously you always want to win. And I feel like, right here, we have a good chance.”
There’s little doubt that Boston’s place as a legit contending team in the NHL’s grand scheme of things played a role in Lindholm signing with them, as did the B’s absolute need for a No. 1 center headed into this season now two years removed from the retirements of David Krejci and Bergeron.
All of that made things come together for Lindholm and Boston this time around after a long-term interest by the team in the player, a connection that nearly had the Bruins trade for him in each of the last couple of seasons. Now the Swedish center finds himself as the right player at the right time in the right place manning the middle for the Black and Gold for the foreseeable future.