Free Agent Stock Watch: Centers

The new year is here and the NHL season is in full swing. Teams are jockeying for playoff position, and many players with expiring contracts across the NHL are playing games that could ultimately determine what type of payday they might receive in the summer.

In a multi-part series, we’ll take a look at each position group of the upcoming free agent class, and do a rundown on how those upcoming unrestricted free agents have performed this year. Which players have increased their odds of landing a massive contract? Which players have potentially hurt their earning potential with their play? We’ll break it all down here.

The Marquee Names

Elias Lindholm, Calgary Flames

With Steven Stamkos primarily playing the wing for the Tampa Bay Lightning, Elias Lindholm stands alone atop the class of full-time centers in the upcoming free-agent class. The 29-year-old is entering the first trip to the unrestricted free agent market of his career, and ever since his trade from the Carolina Hurricanes to the Flames, he’s lined himself up nicely for a big payday.

A traditional two-way center who blends offensive ability and defensive responsibility, Lindholm has played a crucial role for the Flames over the last half-decade. This season has been no different. He leads all Flames forwards in time-on-ice per game and ranks just outside the top 10 most heavily utilized forwards across the entire NHL.

He plays a leading role on both sides of the Flames’ special teams, and although Calgary’s power play has struggled, Lindholm’s exemplary work on the penalty kill has contributed to an 84.2% penalty kill rate. That figure ranks sixth in the entire NHL.

Lindholm’s production has fluctuated on a year-to-year basis, leading to some questions as to his true offensive talent level. He scored 42 goals and 82 points in 2021-22, but that was alongside Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk on one of the most talent-rich lines in hockey.

Now without superstar talent on his wings (Jonathan Huberdeau was supposed to be his all-world running mate but the former Panthers’ tenure in Calgary has been nothing short of a disaster), Lindholm has fallen back into more of a 20-plus goal, 60-plus point range. He’s on pace to score 18 goals and 52 points in 82 games, which would make 2023-24 his worst offensive season since his trade from Carolina.

Now nearly 800 games into his NHL career, there’s sufficient evidence to suggest that Lindholm is a player capable of elite production…