Bruins’ offseason additions play huge role in first win of season originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
BOSTON — Bruins general manager Don Sweeney was busy on Day 1 of NHL free agency back in July. He signed eight players and spent more than $80 million (in total contract value) to improve his roster for the 2024-25 NHL season. He also acquired two players in the Linus Ullmark trade in June.
Many of those new players played a leading role when the Bruins earned their first two points of the new campaign — a 6-4 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night in the home opener at TD Garden. In fact, four of Boston’s six goals came from players acquired in the offseason.
The Bruins’ marquee addition of the summer was top-six center Elias Lindholm, who signed a seven-year, $54.25 million contract. Lindholm is an excellent two-way player who drives offense at 5-on-5 and also contributes to both special teams units.
He has done all of that and more through two games with his new team. After picking up an assist in the season opener against the Panthers on Tuesday, Lindholm tallied three points (one goal, two assists) in the victory over Montreal.
The Bruins got on the board at 11:04 of the first period when Charlie McAvoy scored on the power play. Lindholm earned an assist on the goal. He scored a goal of his own later in the period, thanks to a little help from another newcomer: defenseman Nikita Zadorov.
Zadorov passed to Lindholm, who tipped the puck past Canadiens goalie Cayden Primeau to give Boston a 3-2 lead with 1:37 left in the period.
Lindholm has been very good defensively, too. He has played 7:51 on the penalty kill in two games, and the Bruins haven’t allowed a goal in those minutes.
“I think the underappreciated part of his game is the little things like winning battles, the things he does to give his teammates time and space,” Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said of Lindholm. “In the bumper you can tell he has great poise and spatial awareness on the power play.”
Zadorov had two assists in the first period. The Bruins signed him to a six-year, $30 million contract in free agency. The expectation is that Zadorov will bring a little more toughness and size (he’s 6-foot-6, 240 pounds) to the blue line, as well as some offense. He’s met those expectations so far with two assists and eight hits through two games.
One of the players the Bruins acquired in the Ullmark trade was bottom-six center Mark Kastelic. He scored Boston’s second goal of the…