Boston Bruins
“For me he’s still a reliable centerman who I trust.”
The Bruins made a bit of an uncharacteristically aggressive effort to acquire Elias Lindholm in the summer of 2024. His two seasons in Boston have been largely uneventful, though.
Both years he scored 17 goals, finishing with 47 points in 2024-25 and 48 in 2025-26. Those numbers would be fine if he hadn’t been tabbed as the top-line center to complement offensive superstar David Pastrnak in the black-and-gold sweater.
And to make matters worse, Lindholm revealed this offseason that he’d been playing through a significant back injury for just about his entire tenure in Boston. That’s led to some doubts about his future capabilities as a first- or second-line center for the Bruins.
But Marco Sturm isn’t ready to relegate Lindholm to the bottom-six yet. Speaking on Evan Marinofsky’s “Bruins Beat” podcast, Sturm voiced an optimistic outlook for Lindholm, specifically regarding his health leading into the season.
“I do think so, personally. I really hope so,” Sturm said when asked if Lindholm can still be on one of the top lines. “I can’t look inside his body, but I think he says he felt good, had a good summer. Started skating again [with] no complaints, but hopefully it’s going to stay like that.
Boston has some promising talent rising through its pipeline, including James Hagens, who certainly appears capable of handling top-line duties even as a young prospect. But Sturm noted he’s going to let every player, young and old, earn whatever spot they wind up in this year.
For Lindholm, the hope is that he rediscovers his footing at or near the top. Sturm reminisced about watching Lindholm tear it up on the Calgary Flames a few years before both he and Lindholm landed in Boston. Lindholm’s best season in Calgary saw him record 82 points and 42 goals — over double his goal output in either of his Bruins seasons.
Is that Lindholm still around somewhere? That’s anybody’s guess. But Sturm knows that even the version he’s gotten with the Bruins has plenty of upside.
“For me he’s still a reliable centerman who I trust,” Sturm said. “Yes, a lot of people would like him to score more goals and have more points, I get that, we all want that. He wants it, too. But also, he does a lot of good things. Plays a 200-foot, two-way game. … We obviously want to get more out of him, but we don’t forget that he does a lot of good things that people don’t even see.
“He’s still a big part of our team, and if we could get more out of him that would be good.”
Lindholm is entering year 14 in the NHL, and he’ll be tasked with helping lead a hungry Boston roster that outperformed expectations last season. And this season will be telling whether he can live up to the expectations placed on him individually.
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