Elias Lindholm: Forward

Regular Season: 81 GP, 27 G, 51 A, 78 Pts, 20 PIM, +30, 1.9 CFRel%

Playoffs: 5 GP, 1 G, 1 A, 2 Pts, 4 PIM

Individual Grades

MarkParkinson14= (A) I think it’s safe to say the trade between the Flames and Carolina Hurricanes worked out OK. Lindholm was the third member of one of the NHL’s most potent lines this season and his stats show it. He set career highs in goals (27), assists (51), points (78), +/- (30), PPG (9) and GWG (5). Not bad at all as you look at it on the surface. Like a lot of Calgary’s top players he struggled a bit as the season was winding down. Prior to March he had never gone more than three games without a point. In March alone he had two streaks of five games where he went pointless and final 16 games of the season with 5 points. He had two points in Calgary’s five playoff games, which as crazy as it sounds, made him one of their more productive players.

Madeline Campbell = (A) I want to be clear here: I have never loved a person more than I loved Elias Lindholm in this moment.

Okay, joking aside, I was really pleased with the season Lindholm had. I got to watch a good bit of him when he was playing in the Metro and while I liked him, I felt like there was more to the offensive side of his game that he hadn’t yet tapped into. And for that reason, I liked the move to grab him and put him in a context where he could take his game to the next level. And he did that! He all but obliterated his career highs in goals and points, and really turned himself into an all-situations threat. His even strength scoring was solid and the Flames consistently out-shot and out-chanced opponents when he was on the ice. He contributed well to the already strong top power play unit. He was reliable on the penalty kill (and even brought a bit of scoring threat there too!). And, as Mark noted, he was one of the few Flames who was able to get himself on the board during the playoffs. It was a really solid season for Lindholm, and I’m very excited to see how he’s able to build on it next season.

MGMacGillivray = (A) The Flames banked on Lindholm having untapped potential when they made their blockbuster trade with Carolina last summer and it paid off in spades as Calgary finally found their 1RW to complement Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan. Lindholm had the most points of any right winger on the Flames not named Jarome Iginla since Theo Fleury also put up 78 points in 1997-98.

He was a really good fit on the team as he was able to shift back to a centre position when needed, along with being a very effective player on the PP and PK. With Lindholm being signed for 5 more years at just $4.85M, it’s very possible that he may have one of the best contracts in hockey, especially if his growth continues.