Don Sweeney has made his big splash. The Bruins announced on Saturday that they are acquiring defenseman Hampus Lindholm from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for a 2022 first-round pick, second-round picks in 2023 and 2024, Urho Vaakanainen, and John Moore.
The Ducks are retaining 50% of Lindholm's $5.2 million cap hit for this season. The Bruins also get veteran AHL defenseman Kodie Curran in the deal.
Lindholm's contract expires at the end of this season, but Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman and Bally Sports' Andy Strickland both report that Sweeney is working with Lindholm and his agent, Claude Lemieux, on an extension.
UPDATE: The Bruins on Sunday officially announced an eight-year extension for Lindholm with an average annual value of $6.5 million.
So, let's break down the blockbuster deal.
What the Bruins are getting
Lindholm is the all-around, minutes-eating, left-shot defenseman with size that the Bruins have been searching for.
The 28-year-old is 6-foot-4, 216 pounds. He has averaged over 22 minutes per game each of the last seven seasons. He has consistently averaged somewhere between 0.35 and 0.45 points per game, which comes out to 29-37 points per 82 games. He has five goals and 17 assists in 61 games this season.
Lindholm did battle injury last season, playing just 18 of 56 games, but he bounced back this season by playing 61 of the Ducks' 64 games so far -- and one of those misses was Anaheim holding him out Friday night in anticipation of a trade.
Lindholm can play in all situations and has consistently handled tough defensive assignments during his time in Anaheim. He is a stellar defender, strong penalty-killer and serviceable power-play quarterback when called upon. It is unlikely he'll supplant Charlie McAvoy on the Bruins' top power-play unit, but he could see time on the second unit at some point.
Lindholm is a good skater and puck-mover who won't hesitate to get involved in the rush. He's not exactly a bruiser in terms of physicality, but he's strong enough to win his battles and will mix things up from time to time.
Lindholm could easily slot in next to Charlie McAvoy or Brandon Carlo, but the guess here is that he'll play with McAvoy on the Bruins' top pairing. While Matt Grzelcyk and Mike Reilly have both been good with McAvoy, the Bruins have long preferred to have a bigger, more well-rounded minutes-eater up there. That would allow Grzelcyk and Reilly to both see easier matchups in the bottom four that they can take advantage of.
With the extension, the Bruins could have Lindholm-McAvoy locked in as their top pair for years to come, assuming they find chemistry. While eight years -- which takes Lindholm up to age 36 -- might be a little longer than you'd prefer, that's probably what it took to get the trade done with an extension locked in. And you're probably not giving up all those assets without a new contract in place.
Lindholm's analytics have not been great this season, in large part because he tends to take a lot more penalties than he draws, but a deeper dive shows clear strengths in areas like zone entries -- at both the offensive and defensive blue line -- and shooting. The Bruins' hope and expectation would be that Lindholm's play and analytics both improve in a better situation in Boston.
What the Bruins are giving up
So, obviously this looks like a lot. But if they do get the extension done, it's really quite reasonable for the Bruins.
The 2022 first-round pick is the centerpiece, but it's important to note that the 2023 draft class is widely considered to be stronger than this year's. Several teams have reportedly been trying to get 2023 picks instead of 2022. It's unknown if the Ducks were one of them, but Sweeney is probably OK with giving up this year's first rather than next year's.
Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli reports that one of the two second-round picks was for the combination of Anaheim retaining salary and also taking on John Moore's contract, which has one year left on it with a $2.75 million cap hit. That seems fair.
Urho Vaakanainen, a first-round pick back in 2017, was starting to come into his own this season after getting called up in January, but then he suffered a head injury on Feb. 1 against Seattle and has only played two games since.
The 23-year-old certainly looks like an NHL-caliber defenseman at this point, but a player of Lindholm's caliber would've bumped him further down the depth chart.
The best part about this package for the Bruins is what they didn't give up, namely one of their top two prospects in Fabian Lysell or Mason Lohrei. There had been reports that the Ducks were looking for a first-round pick plus a "Grade-A" prospect. In the Bruins' case, that would have meant Lysell (their 2021 first-round pick) or Lohrei (their 2020 second-round pick who has had an excellent freshman season at Ohio State).
Giving up Lohrei in a Lindholm deal may have been a little more palatable given that both are left-shot D, but not giving him up is a lot better. In a couple years, those two could be the left side of the Bruins' top four.
With all the salary in this deal basically canceling out, Sweeney still has room to shift his attention to forwards and add there prior to Monday's 3 p.m. deadline if he so chooses. Obviously, it's also worth noting that Jake DeBrusk was not involved here, despite rumblings that the Ducks may have had interest in him.
Related
