The Boston Bruins need to heavily pursue this top center in free agency

With the Boston Bruins season now over after losing to the Florida Panthers in the second round, preparations can be made for the offseason as the Bruins have decisions to make on free agents and moves to make in order to improve the roster.

The ability, or lack thereof in this case, to score hurt the Bruins in the playoffs, finding themselves on the wrong end of too many games against the Panthers due to their clear advantage in the goal scoring department.

While Charlie Coyle and Pavel Zacha performed admirably in the regular season, both had shaky playoff performances, also solidifying the need to go out and get a top flight center this offseason, even with youngster Matthew Poitras set to return to the team next season.

Looking at the class of pending free agent centers, there's not a whole lot of players worth going after. Sure, Steven Stamkos is a free agent, but he's a winger first and every expectation is that he'll go back to the Tampa Bay Lightning. The biggest name is Elias Lindholm, and he's exactly the player the Bruins need to go after.

The Bruins need to pursue Elias Lindholm with everything they have

Lindholm offers the Bruins the two-way abilities they need, especially with Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci gone. The Bruins have tried to get him previously, showing interest in him before the trade deadline before he was ultimately dealt to the Vancouver Canucks. Maybe they couldn't match Vancouver's offer, or Calgary just couldn't refuse it.

While Lindholm did score 42 goals in 2021-2022, a career high by a lot, it's unrealistic to expect him to score that much with the Bruins. He scored 22 goals the year after and had 15 between Calgary and Vancouver this year. He is a consistent 15-25 goal scorer per season and racks up assists too, which is something the Bruins definitely need on offense

Another thing Lindholm does well is deliver in the playoffs. He had five goals and five assists in 13 games for the Canucks before they fell to the Edmonton Oilers in seven games in the second round, bringing his total to 13 goals and 14 assists in 40 games. In 2021-2022 with Calgary, he had five goals and 4 assists in 12 games.

With Lindholm coming off a $4.85 million annual contract and with his status as the top center on the market, you can bet there will be a bidding war for his services come July 1. But this is a move the Bruins can't afford to not make, because he brings everything the Bruins need to the table, both as a center and as a goal scorer. Get it done Don.