The 2024-25 season was one of the most disappointing seasons in the franchise history of Boston Bruins. With managing director Don Sweeney, his chips pushes to the center of the table and Signing Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov Expectations were high for long -term deals. De Bruins came from a competitive season and added an established top-six center and a Big-Body, top-four defender on the Mix to believe that the team would build on their earlier success. The long-term commitment to these players was worrying, just like the performance of Lindholm from the 2023-24 season, but the team was up to a rejuvenated Lindholm that performed and the team improved. Unfortunately, just about everything that could go wrong, and the team put itself back so far that they had to commit to a fire sale and full retool.
From the start things were incoherent. The team exchanged goalkeeper Linus Ullmark, with the intention of giving Jeremy Swayman an increased role. Although this was logical on paper, it also removed the biggest power position of the Bruins. It was also followed by the team that rumbled the contract negotiation process with Swayman and dragged in the process A very public way; Although the debt can be allocated both sides, the fact that it has not held anyone to have it play the way it did. The result? Swayman Missing Training Camp and the preseason earlier Sign a deal And catching up the entire season, never really rounded in shape.
But it was a few crucial injuries that really put the Bruins back, namely Cornerstone Defenders Charlie Mcavoy and Hampus Lindholm. Even the best teams would be difficult to compete without one of these players in their line-up, let alone. However, the good news for De Bruins on their way is that both players seem completely healthy and are ready to return to action. Boston Globe Reporter Kevin Paul Dupont overtaken with LindholmWith the veteran who said his kneecap was completely cured and that he would be a full-go for the start of the training camp.
Lindholm is completely recovered and ready
Lindholm who returns to the line -up of the Bruins will have an immediate stabilizing effect. When healthy, the 31-year-old defender is one of the most complete defenders of the NHL, able to eat for minutes, play well in the transition and to treat the team’s most difficult defensive assignments. It lost to him last year not only gained a top-pair of presence from the line-up; It pushed other defenders in places that did not necessarily fit in their strengths. Apparently this had a noticeable drop-down effect over all three combinations. With Lindholm ready to go, the Bruins have options about how they will use their combinations. An obvious place for him in the Line -Up is next to Mcavoy, but the team could also choose to split the two players, giving the team a better chance to close the opposition for the most of the game.
In his first full season with the team in 2022-23, the Swedish defender placed a career-high 53 points in 80 games. This would beat his former career-high of 34 points that came during the 2014-15 season, only his second season in the NHL. Unfortunately, his attacking output would come to Earth the following season if he would score only 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 attacking zone during the 2022-23 season, while the 2023-24 season played him a more important plug role, with only 36.1% of his shifts in the attacking zone. He would be placed in a similar situation last season before his injury, with 63.2% of his shifts in the defensive zone, almost identical to his deployment of 2023-24.
While Lindholm is one of the best closing defenders in the team, it is almost a waste of his talent to hang him in such a defensive role. De Bruins must do what is best for the team, and if that means that it plays Lindholm in a more concluding role, then it is. But if they can find a way to give him a more balanced workload, they could reap the benefits of his attacking potential that is emphasized by his strong puck-moving capacity.
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De Bruins do not want to fully rebuild and the majority of their recent movements are designed to get NHL-ready or Near-NHL-ready assets that can intervene and make the difference. Although it is unlikely that the Bruins will win the Stanley Cup next season, Lindholm would help the team return to the team to be more competitive than some people expect.
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