Elias Lindholm, C/Vancouver Canucks
If Sean Monahan goes somewhere else, there is always Elias Lindholm (another former teammate of Johnny Gaudreau’s), even if it took him a while to get going in a new system. Lindholm had spent most of the last six seasons in Calgary, so a learning curve in a new system was expected, but Lindholm ended his first 26 games with the Canucks with just six goals and 12 points.
Despite the slow start, Lindholm’s play skyrocketed in the playoffs, where he scored five goals and finished with 10 points in 13 games. He was also playing “playoff hockey” well defensively, finishing the postseason run with 36 hits and 16 blocks, showing off what he can bring with top-six minutes and a sense of urgency.
Sure, everyone’s play organically picks up during the postseason, but Lindholm looked as though he were more than on a mission, tying Quinn Hughes for third in points and finishing second on the team in goals. Thanks to the way he bounced back, Lindholm could easily be more than a rental in British Columbia, much like Sean Monahan may be in Winnipeg.
His physical play wasn’t just something that skyrocketed in the playoffs, as he ended the regular season with a solid 89 hits and 40 takeaways. When you think about it, Lindholm wouldn’t just improve the Blue Jackets offensively; he would improve this team in every facet of their game.
He will also head into his age-30 season, and while the Blue Jackets don’t need to continually key on bringing in players at or over 30, players like Lindholm and Monahan still have a lot of hockey left. In a previous piece, I also listed Joe Pavelski (on a one-year deal) and Jonathan Marchessault as players whose advanced ages also shouldn’t deter the Blue Jackets - this young team could use a few more leaders as they keep building.
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)