If the Boston Bruins blue line is going to survive being without two of its best players for the first month or so of the 2022-23 NHL season, the team needs Hampus Lindholm to be a two-way force on the top pairing.
The team's best defenseman, Charlie McAvoy, had shoulder surgery in the offseason and isn't expected to return until around Thanksgiving. McAvoy is one of the top players in the league and finished fifth in Norris Trophy voting last season. Matt Grzelcyk also had shoulder surgery and likely won't be back until early November. Grzelcyk's playmaking ability is valuable at even strength and the power play.
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Without two top-four guys, Lindholm's workload and importance to the team is about to go up significantly. Luckily for the Bruins, he has plenty of experience filling this kind of role.
"It's a position I've been in kind of my whole career,” Lindholm told reporters Sept. 12. “I've been fortunate that I've played big minutes in Anaheim and take responsibility. So it's nothing new, and any time you can have (McAvoy) in the lineup, we're a better team. Hopefully he gets back here soon, but we got a lot of good guys in this locker room who can step it up."
The Bruins acquired Lindholm from the Anaheim Ducks before last season's trade deadline. Boston gave up plenty of draft capital and prospects to get Lindholm, but it didn't take long for him to make a positive impact. Lindholm's calm, steady presence and two-way skill set were impressive.
The Bruins had a plus-34 advantage in shot attempts, a plus-37 edge in shots on net, a plus-20 lead in scoring chances and outscored opponents 12-5 during the 161:58 of 5-on-5 minutes Lindholm played last season, per Natural Stat Trick.
Lindholm drives puck possession, scoring chances and defends at a high level -- a similar skill set to McAvoy. He's also a one-man breakout with the ability to retrieve pucks and start the transition up ice with quick, accurate passes. One area where the Bruins have lots of room for improvement is creating offense from the blue line, and a full year of Lindholm will help in that regard.
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The 27-year-old defenseman hasn't played fewer than 22 minutes per game since the 2014-15 campaign -- his second year with the Ducks. We might see Lindholm play between 24 and 25 minutes per game when McAvoy and Grzelcyk are out of the lineup in October and November. Not only is Lindholm going to play a ton of minutes, he's going to do so against the opponents' top-six forwards.
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Lindholm likely will feature prominently on special teams, too. He played 2:06 per game on the power play and 2:08 per game on the penalty kill between the Ducks and Bruins last season. McAvoy played over five minutes per game on special teams in 2021-22, and a good chunk of that ice time could go to Lindholm.
The Bruins acquired Lindholm and signed him to an eight-year, $52 million extension to play this kind of top-pairing role. Sure, the thought was he would do it alongside McAvoy or on the second pairing with Brandon Carlo. But considering the injuries to McAvoy and Grzelcyk, the Bruins are very fortunate to have a defenseman of Lindholm's caliber on the roster to step into the No. 1 role.
It's almost frightening to imagine how weak this blue line would look if he wasn't here.