By: Ryan Bosworth | Follow me on Twitter / X @RyanJBosworth
Elias Lindholm’s first season in Boston left much to be desired. Signed to a seven-year, $54.25 million contract when free agency opened in July of 2024, hopes were high for Boston’s newly acquired first-line center. Things didn’t exactly go as planned after a back injury derailed Lindholm’s entire training camp.
Lindholm linked much of his down year in 2024-25 to the injury he suffered in training camp, stating that after his injury, he was “chasing it pretty much all season after that.” He struggled to develop chemistry on the first line with David Pastrnak for much of the season, and even found himself down on the third line when he was really struggling. Despite some promising flashes throughout the season, Lindholm struggled to gain momentum.
Towards the end of the season, things started to improve for Elias, as he’d put up ten points in his final ten games. The goal all along was to have the Boden, Sweden native slot in next to Pastrnak, and through the entire season, it continued to look as if it wasn’t going to pan out, but, despite it taking all season, the chemistry between the two top-liners really started to show.
In a recent interview with Ronnie Rönnkvist of Daily Faceoff, Lindholm commented on his down year in 2024-25 and shared his thoughts about the upcoming 2025-26 campaign. Needless to say, he has the right mentality about the upcoming season.
”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 said in the article. He also commented on the 2024-25 season, stating “It was a season I’d rather forget.”
Lindholm specifically commented on just how much went wrong for Boston, including McAvoy’s injury that sidelined him for a majority of the season, Swayman’s down year between the pipes, and he commented on himself, stating “hopefully, I can get back to my game.”
Lindholm has a strong two-way game. He isn’t going to be racking up points, but he’s absolutely capable of 60-70 points when he’s at his best. Since concluding the 2024-25 campaign, he went overseas to participate in the IIHF World Championship with Team Sweden, where he continued his promising play from down the stretch and turned more than a few heads at the tournament.
If Lindholm can continue building on the promise shown during the final 10-15 games of the 2024-25 season, along with the dominance from the IIHF World Championship, there’s no reason why he can’t be a valuable piece for the Bruins down the middle.
With training camp right around the corner, right now is a critical time for Lindholm to get off on the right foot — something he was unable to do last season, and it showed. Having a strong start to the 2025-26 campaign is crucial for Lindholm to perform to his true ability.
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