Boston’s Positives Outweigh Clear Negative For Elias Lindholm

Bruins forward Elias Lindholm is enjoying almost everything about his time in Boston.

"It's been good. I've obviously been here for a month now," Lindholm told reporters Thursday, per team-provided video. "I think the weather has been nice. The city's been really nice to explore and settle into our place. It's -- you know, so far, so good."

How about the traffic?

"It's a little different than I'm used to," he admitted. "I'm not a huge fan, but I'll get through it."

Lindholm -- despite the obvious drawback of driving in a city that was meant to be navigated by horse-drawn carriage -- had nothing but positive things to say about getting acclimated to his new surroundings. He signed a seven-year deal in free agency, joining the Bruins to presumably fill a top-six center role that needed upgrading since the retirements of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci.

The B's need someone to play alongside David Pastrnak, after all.

"He's one of the best players in the league," Lindholm said of Pastrnak. "If that's the case, it's super exciting. We'll see what’s going to happen. There's a lot of good players on this team, and that's why I wanted to come here. I think we have a good chance to do something special. And obviously you always want to win. And I feel like, right here, we have a good chance."

The Bruins need production from their top lines, and hope Lindholm can provide that with a bounce-back season in Black and Gold.

Lindholm accounted for just 44 points in 2023-24, but attributed some of his downtick in production to a midseason trade that left him in limbo entering the offseason. He's going to be in Boston for a while, though, so as long as he can learn to live with the traffic, he should find comfort in playing with some of the most talented players in the world.