New Boston Bruins Star Is Big X-Factor

This new Boston Bruins forward is an incredibly important piece of the club's roster.

It was no secret that the Boston Bruins wanted Elias Lindholm on their roster for a long time. After pursuing him multiple times over the last few seasons, the Bruins finally picked him up in free agency, signing him to a seven-year, $54.25 million contract. With this, he is expected to be a critical part of their roster moving forward.

The Bruins desperately needed help at the center position. After both Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci retired during the 2023 NHL Offseason, the Bruins did not have the cap space to replace them with new centers through free agency or the trade market. Because of this, Pavel Zacha and Charlie Coyle filled in the top center spots and did a solid job. However, with this addition of Lindholm, the Bruins are hoping that they have found a legitimate long-term answer for the 1C role.

However, Lindholm is also coming off a down season. In 75 regular-season games split between the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks, he had 15 goals and 44 points. While these are not bad numbers, they were low for his standards. Just back in 2022-23 with Calgary, he had 22 goals and 64 points in 80 contests. During the season before that, he had 42 goals and 82 points in 82 games. Due to this, the Bruins are expecting Lindholm to bounce back. 

With all of this, Lindholm is one of the Bruins' biggest X-factors heading into the new season. If he bounces back and returns to his true star form, the Bruins will be a far better team. He will also be put in a position to succeed, as he is expected to play on their first line with David Pastrnak. However, if he does not return to his previous form, the Bruins will continue to have questions to answer down the middle.

It will be fascinating to see how Lindholm performs for the Bruins in 2024-25. There is no question that he is a prime bounce-back candidate.