[UPDATE: The Bruins have now extended Lindholm with an eight-year, $52 million contract.]
The Boston Bruins are making a pretty significant upgrade to their defense before the NHL Trade Deadline on Monday afternoon.
Bruins trade for Hampus Lindholm; send a lot to the Ducks
The team is acquiring veteran defenseman Hampus Lindholm from the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday evening. In exchange the Bruins are sending a lot of assets the Ducks’ way. The Ducks confirmed the trade package as such:
Bruins receive: Hampus Lindholm (Ducks retain 50% of his salary) and Kodie Curran.
Ducks receive: Urho Vaakanainen, John Moore, 2022 first-round pick, second-rounders in 2023 and 2024.
The Bruins had been mentioned in trade talks for both Lindholm and Arizona’s Jakob Chychrun in the weeks leading up to the deadline, and ended up getting the veteran Lindholm as a rental. He is a pending unrestricted free agent after this season.
He is not quite the same player he was when he was at his peak in Anaheim, but he is still a very good all around player that can contribute in all three zones. The Bruins have been one of the hotter teams in the league in recent weeks and are starting to look like a legitimate contender again in a very tough and competitive Eastern Conference.
Adding Lindholm helps them keep pace with the other Eastern Conference contenders that have already made additions in recent day (Florida with Ben Chiarot, Tampa Bay with Brandon Hagel, and the New York Rangers with Frank Vatrano).
Chychrun would have been intriguing as a long-term option next to Charlie McAvoy, but he also would have almost certainly carried a steeper price tag.
Boston could probably still use an upgrade at their second line center spot, but Lindholm is a strong starting point to help then make another Stanley Cup run, especially since Jeremy Swayman has helped solidify another key spot in goal.
Along the Lindholm trade to Boston, the Ducks also sent forward Nicolas Deslauriers to the Minnesota Wild for a draft pick. Those two trades are a pretty good indicator that even though the Ducks have taken a big step forward this season in their rebuild they are not quite ready for a Stanley Cup Playoff spot this season and will be selling before Monday’s NHL Trade Deadline. Now all focus should turn to forward Rickard Rakell.
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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.
