Going into the 2026-27 season, one question, one of many of them, was: where center Elias Lindholm was going to end up in the lineup for second-year coach Marco Sturm. Was he going to center the top line, second line, or third line?
As it turns out, he has settled in on the third line for the Black and Gold, with Pavel Zacha and Fraser Minten centering the first two lines. Lindholm is making a hefty salary as a third-line center, but he has settled into the role nicely. In fact, Fluto Shinzawa nailed the Boston Bruins' biggest surprise early in the season.
"Lindholm has had back issues the last two seasons. He started 2026-27 as the No. 1 center before Pavel Zacha replaced him. He is on pace to have his lowest ice time per game since 2014-15. But he’s been productive centering the third line,'' wrote Shinzawa.
Bruins center Elias Lindholm tabbed biggest surprise early in the 2026-27 season
Lindholm has found the perfect home on the third line with Casey Mittlestadt and James Hagens. They have been a line that has supplied some depth scoring, and there have been games where Mittlestadt has gotten the Bruins off and running with some early goals against the Nashville Predators and San Jose Sharks.
He has been a net-front presence of the struggling Black and Gold power play, tipping home a goal aaginst Nashville and then making a no-look pass to Zacha, where he just happened to luck out that Zacha was wide-open at the side of the net for a tap-in goal against the Carolina Hurricanes.
There is a lot of length left on Lindholm's contract, and general manager Don Sweeney isn't having anyone take it off his hands. However, maybe the biggest reason why Lindholm is playing so well right now is that he's healthy. The back problem that hampered him over the last couple of years seems to be a thing of the past, for now. He made his biggest presence felt on Saturday in a 5-4 overtime win over the Chicago Blackhawks when he scored on a breakaway.
Ideally, Sturm slotting Lindholm higher up in the lineup would be what he would like to do, but right now, he's best suited for the third line. Now, that could change if Zacha is traded and he is in the final year of his contract, but if things continue to sputter for Boston, as they have recently, then moving him by the trade deadline is the move to make so they don't lose him for anything next summer.
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