Bruins to be without key defenseman for extended time
According to Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic, Bruins defenseman Hampus Lindholm is out on a week-to-week basis due to an unexplained injury sustained on Monday against the Stars. The 30-year-old will not need surgery, but he will miss a major portion of Boston’s last 26 games.
Lindholm’s offensive performance has slowed in the second season of an eight-year, $52 million agreement, after finishing fourth in Norris Trophy voting last year with 53 points and a +49 rating. While he has just one goal and 18 assists in 56 games in 2023-24, he is still playing about 24 minutes per game and has continued to record high-end possession stats, including a 51.6 CF% at even strength, which is 5.1% higher than the Bruins’ overall CF% without him on the ice, and a projected +6.3 rating.
Lindholm has played nearly 550 minutes with Brandon Carlo this season, but their duo will be broken up for the next few weeks. Mason Lohrei, a 23-year-old rookie, is anticipated to play with Carlo in the top four as Lindholm is absent.
If the Bruins expect him to miss at least 10 games and 24 days, they can put him on LTIR to free up cap space before the March 8 trade deadline. It would only allow for short-term flexibility, however. Boston must remain cap-compliant until the end of the regular season and would require space to activate Lindholm later in March or April. Lindholm is expected to play the remainder of the regular season.
Lindholm has 11 goals, 66 assists, and 77 points in 146 games since being acquired from the Ducks at the 2022 trade deadline. The 2012 sixth-round pick is seventh in games played among his draft class, with 728, and his career +152 rating is the greatest among his peers.
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