Brady Tkachuk is playing in the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Group B match between the United States and Germany in Ostrava, Czech Republic, on May 11, 2024. (Photo by Andrzej Iwanczuk/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Bruins Seek Top Center Linked to Leon Draisaitl & Elias Lindholm.
The Boston Bruins could be considering acquiring a top-line center to improve their playoff results after crashing out of the postseason before reaching the conference finals in back-to-back seasons.
Recent reports have linked two players to the Bruins: Edmonton Oilers‘ Leon Draisaitl (under contract through the 2024/25 season) and Vancouver Canucks‘ Elias Lindholm (unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2024).
Former NHL player and analyst Georges Laraque suggested on BPM Sports, 91.9 FM in Montreal (h/t Boston Hockey Now), that Draisaitl, under contract for one more season with the Oilers, could be interested in joining the Bruins if he does not extend his contract with the Oilers and the team doesn’t advance deep into the playoffs.“Someone well placed within the Oilers organization said that if the Oilers don’t go deep in the playoffs, he doesn’t see Draisaitl re-signing at the end of his deal and that he’d prefer to be a first-line center in Boston,” Laraque said on April 30.
Before going after Draisaitl, the Bruins might pursue Lindholm once he becomes a free agent on July 1, 2024.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, who discussed it on the May 24 episode of the “32 Thoughts” podcast, expects the Bruins to pursue Lindholm if he becomes available.
“Lindholm is a player (the Bruins) liked before he was traded to Vancouver,” Friedman said on May 24. “I’m expecting them to be in on him if he hits the market.”
Boston Could Think About Pursuing Draisaitl or Sign Lindholm
Draisaitl, 28, will begin the final season of an eight-year, $68 million contract with the Oilers. He will turn 30 years old at the end of his current deal after the 2024-25 season.
Laraque expanded on his initial late-April report by telling Boston Hockey Now that Draisaitl might not re-sign with the Oilers once his deal is up. That, in turn, could force Edmonton’s hand and make the franchise think about trading him instead of losing the player for nothing in July 2025.
