After a difficult first season with Bruins, Elias Lindholm wants revenge
This story originally appeared on hockeysverige.se and has been translated from Swedish to English.
Time flies when you’re having fun.
It might only feel like yesterday that the Carolina Hurricanes selected Elias Lindholm fifth overall in the 2013 draft in New Jersey. But here we are, 900 NHL games later, and the 30-year-old Boston Bruins center is gearing up for his 13th NHL season.
”A lot has happened since I was quite young when I moved over to North America,” Elias Lindholm said with a wry smile. ”I’ve become a father and started a family. As a hockey player, it’s hard to say. A lot can happen over 12 years. You adjust your playing style a bit, find your role more clearly, and I’ve worked with a variety of coaches. I’ve learned a lot, taken many lessons, and gained a lot of experience.”
Lindholm went straight from the draft to playing in the NHL in the fall of 2013. He vividly remembers his first impression of the league.
”I got injured during the preseason and didn’t play much,” he said. “It ended up being five or seven minutes in the first game. We faced Detroit at home. I got to sit and watch as (Henrik) Zetterberg and (Pavel) Datsyuk were playing around and made many beautiful passes. It was enjoyable and nice to play so little that I could then just sit and watch those two.”
After stints in Calgary and Vancouver, he ended up in Boston as a free agent last summer. He signed a seven-year pact with an AAV of $7.75 million. It was a difficult season, scoring just 17 goals and 47 points in 82 games.
”The season wasn’t great,” Lindholm said. ”I didn’t get off to a strong start, had problems with my back, and missed the entire camp. To be able to play from the beginning, I had to take an injection, and it took a few weeks before it helped. I couldn’t do anything for a month or two, so I felt behind and had to catch up.
”It wasn’t a great start, but I hope this coming season can be better.”
Lindholm also said it was disappointing the Bruins couldn’t advance to the postseason.
”Before the season, it felt like we had a team that could do it, but a lot happened,” Lindholm said. “No one really knew what would happen with (Brad) Marchand, and then we also had the coaching change. There were many distractions, and we traded away quite a few players, so it turned out the way it did. It was a season I’d rather forget.”
After last year, Lindholm wants revenge, both for himself and his team. And he has high hopes about the Bruins’ chances to rebound.
”It’s going to be an interesting season. We’ve brought in some players, more hardworking types, so the feeling is that we’ve added more of a Boston style to our game,” Lindholm saod. “Then we have “Pasta” (David Pastrnak), and hopefully, I can get back to my game. (Charlie) McAvoy was a bit injured and missed most of last season. Now we get him back. Viktor (Arvidsson) is coming. (Jeremy) Swayman maybe didn’t have his best season… A lot went wrong, but hopefully, things will go better this season and allow us to make the playoffs at least.”
Twelve years removed from his draft year, Lindholm can be considered a veteran player. This season, as it stands, he’s one of only five players on the team 30 or over.
”It’s gone fast. When we traded away a lot of people, I got to move further and further back on the bus. Eventually, I ended up at the very back. That’s when I realized I’m not so young anymore,” he said, with a laugh.
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