Over the summer, Boston Bruins GM Don Sweeney made a couple of big additions through free agency. One of the players he added was center Elias Lindholm who was given a contract that carries an AAV of $7.75 million. So far, the returns haven't been good.
Lindholm was brought in to be a top-line center and it hasn't gone the way Sweeney or head coach Jim Montgomery has hoped it would. Along with the rest of his teammates, Lindholm has struggled in all areas of his game and it's going lost on the veteran pivot who signed as a free agent from the Vancouver Canucks.
Elias Lindholm gives honest assessment of his play
First and foremost, Lindholm saw a dip last season in his production between the Calgary Flames and Canucks. In 75 games combined, he had 15 goals and 29 assists, but wasn't looking like the same player he was in the seasons before that. This season with the Bruins in 19 games, he's got two goals and seven assists.
“I haven’t been good enough,'' Lindholm said after Sunday's practice at Warrior Ice Arena ahead of Monday night's game against the Columbus Blue Jackets at the TD Garden.
Not being good enough is an understatement. Again, he's not alone in that either. Whether it's been at even strength or on the power play, he's been a disappointment so far. There are times when a player's struggle in the lineup can go unnoticed, but his struggles along with the team's struggles magnify things even more.
The players and Montgomery have no answers for the Bruins' struggles to begin the season and if they don't turn things around quickly, they will find themselves on the outside looking in when it comes to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It's not going to take one person to turn things around, but the whole team. Lindholm, however, would go a long way to help his team turn things around if he can be better.