The 2024-25 season was one of the most disappointing seasons in Boston Bruins’ franchise history. With general manager Don Sweeney pushing his chips towards the middle of the table and signing Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov to long-term deals, expectations were high. The Bruins were coming off a competitive season and adding an established top-six center and a big-bodied, top-four defender to the mix led many to believe that the team would build upon their prior success. The long-term commitment to these players was concerning, as was Lindholm’s performance from the 2023-24 season, but the team was banking on a rejuvenated Lindholm stepping up and improving the team. Unfortunately, just about everything that could go wrong did go wrong, and the team set themselves back so far that they had to commit to a fire sale and full retool.
From the very beginning, things were disjointed. The team traded away goaltender Linus Ullmark, with the intention of giving Jeremy Swayman an increased role. While this made sense on paper, it also took away from the Bruins’ biggest position of strength. It was also followed by the team fumbling the contract negotiation process with Swayman, dragging the process out in a very public manner; while blame can be assigned both ways, the fact of the matter is it didn’t do anybody any favors to have it play out the way it did. The result? Swayman missing training camp and the preseason before signing a deal and playing catch-up all season long, never really rounding into form.
More than anything, though, it was a few crucial injuries that really set the Bruins back, namely, cornerstone defenders Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm. Even the best teams would be hard-pressed to compete without one of these players in their lineup, let alone both. The good news for the Bruins heading into this season, though, is that both players seem fully healthy and ready to return to action. Boston Globe reporter Kevin Paul Dupont caught up with Lindholm, with the veteran saying that his kneecap was completely healed and that he’d be a full-go for the start of training camp.
Lindholm Fully Recovered and Ready
Lindholm returning to the Bruins’ lineup will have an immediate stabilizing effect. When healthy, the 31-year-old defender is one of the NHL’s most complete defensemen, capable of eating minutes, playing well in transition and handling the team’s toughest defensive assignments. Losing him last year didn’t just take a top-pair presence out of the lineup; it pushed other defensemen into spots that didn’t necessarily fit their strengths. Evidently, this had a noticeable trickle-down effect across all three pairings. With Lindholm ready to go, the Bruins have options on how they’ll deploy their pairings. An obvious spot for him in the lineup is next to McAvoy, but the team could also opt to split the two players up, giving the team a better chance of shutting down the opposition for the majority of the game.
In his first full season with the team in 2022-23, the Swedish defender posted a career-high 53 points in 80 games. This would beat out his former career-high of 34 points that came during the 2014-15 season, just his second season in the NHL. Unfortunately, his offensive output would come down to earth the following season when he’d score just three goals and 26 points in 73 games during the 2023-24 season. The difference between these two seasons? Lindholm would start 48.1% of his shifts in the offensive zone during the 2022-23 season, whereas the 2023-24 season saw him playing a more significant shutdown role, starting just 36.1% of his shifts in the attacking zone. He’d be put into a similar situation last season before his injury, starting 63.2% of his shifts in the defensive zone, nearly identical to his 2023-24 deployment.
While Lindholm is one of the team’s best shutdown defenders, it’s almost a waste of his talent to pigeonhole him into such a defensive role. The Bruins have to do what’s best for the team, and if that means playing Lindholm in a more shutdown role, then so be it. But if they can find a way to give him a more balanced workload, they could reap the rewards of his offensive potential that’s highlighted by his strong puck-moving ability.
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The Bruins aren’t looking to fully rebuild and the majority of their recent moves were designed to get NHL-ready or near-NHL-ready assets who could step in and make a difference. Though the Bruins are unlikely to win the Stanley Cup next season, Lindholm returning to the lineup should help the team be more competitive than some may expect.
