Bruins would be prime suitors
Rumors continue that the Flames will look to deal veteran center Elias Lindholm, on target to be an unrestricted free agent July 1. If they are serious about shopping the 28-year-old pivot, the Bruins would be prime suitors.
Like recent retirees Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, Lindholm is a right-shot centerman, smart and durable and fairly prolific. He has rolled up 513 points in his 10 NHL seasons, ranking him third in his 2013 draft class, behind Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon (759) and Florida’s Alexsander Barkov (631).
Lindholm would plug in immediately as the No. 1 pivot with elite wingers Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak, allowing Pavel Zacha to remain at No. 2 and Charlie Coyle at No. 3.
All that, of course, is assuming the Bruins would not have to surrender Zacha in the swap. Zacha almost certainly would be one of Calgary’s asks.
It was just 13 months ago, when
Brad Treliving was the Flames GM, that Matthew Tkachuk made clear he would not sign a contract extension in Calgary after the 2022-23 season. Rather than wait around for the trade deadline, Treliving shipped Tkachuk to the Panthers (Tkachuk’s preferred landing spot) for a package that included center Jonathan Huberdeau and blue liner
MacKenzie Weegar, along with two more assets (prospect Cole Schwindt and a first-round pick in 2025).
Huberdeau, the prime offensive piece coming back in the blockbuster swap, saw his production plummet his first season in Calgary from 115 points with the Panthers to a pedestrian 55 with the Flames. Little surprise that new Calgary GM Craig Conroy, hired soon after Treliving packed up and later took command of the Maple Leafs front office, made finding ways to kickstart Huberdeau’s game his top priority.
Frankly, shipping out Huberdeau and signing Lindholm to an extension could be the shrewder play, but last August Treliving signed Huberdeau to an eight-year extension (cap hit: $10.5 million) that begins this season. He can’t be traded without his permission for the next six seasons. Given his cap hit, and his overwhelming underperformance last season, suitors would be scarcer than an Alberta oil man at a Tesla R&D convention.
Lindholm has not made clear whether he wants to stay in Calgary. He has a reasonable cap hit ($4.85 million) which, coincidentally, is only $100K higher than Zacha’s number. What is painfully clear to the Flames is that they cannot afford to see his deal expire after 2023-24 and then receive zero in return if he were to sign elsewhere.
Lindholm, by the way, was a Carolina draft pick (No. 5, 2013) and was only 18 when he debuted with the Hurricanes. He played five seasons in Raleigh before he and Noah Hanifin were swapped to the Flames in the deal that sent ex-Bruin Dougie Hamilton and the rights to Adam Fox to the Hurricanes.