NHL trade grades: Did Canucks give up too much for Lindholm?

Greg Wyshynski, ESPNFeb 1, 2024, 06:06 AM ET

CloseGreg Wyshynski is ESPN’s senior NHL writer.

One of the best players believed to be available this NHL trade season is off the board.

The Vancouver Canucks have acquired center Elias Lindholm from the Calgary Flames, in exchange sending forward Andrei Kuzmenko, defensemen Hunter Brzustewicz and Joni Jurmo, Vancouver’s first-round pick in the 2024 draft and a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2024 draft the other way.

How did each team do in this intra-divisional swap? Here are our grades:

“He’s a team guy who gives it everything, every shift.”

That’s Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford’s assessment of Elias Lindholm … from the 2013 NHL draft. That’s when then-Carolina Hurricanes GM Rutherford selected him fifth overall, right before center Sean Monahan was taken by the Flames.

In acquiring Lindholm, the Canucks remove one of the biggest names off the NHL trade deadline board. (Ironically, Monahan, now with Montreal, might now be the top center available at the deadline.) Lindholm was coveted by teams trying to add an elite two-way player on an expiring contract to their top six. The Colorado Avalanche had inquired about him. There was speculation that Boston was in the mix for him. But the Canucks jumped the line with an offer the Flames couldn’t refuse.

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What does Lindholm bring to the Canucks? Versatility, for one. There’s been a years-long trend in the NHL in which traditional centers are also adept at producing on the wing. Lindholm certainly fits that template. He wins 55.5% of his faceoffs. As a team, Vancouver is 16th in the NHL (50%) in faceoff proficiency. Most importantly, Lindholm gives the Canucks the right-handed faceoff guy they sorely lacked on their depth chart.

Seriously, it’s line Lindholm was made in a lab for this Vancouver team. He can play on a power play that’s already in the top 10 (25%) in the NHL. He can bolster a penalty kill that’s middle of the pack…

Source link : https://www.espn.com/nhl/insider/story/_/id/39434746/nhl-trade-grade-elias-lindholm-canucks-flames-playoffs

Author : Greg Wyshynski

Publish date : 2024-02-01 11:21:38

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