“There’s a lot of guys that are underperforming right now, and as a staff, we’re going to pull it out of them. I’m confident we are, but it’s going to take some work, it’s not going to happen overnight,” Sacco told reporters at a press conference Wednesday. “But we feel we have a good enough team, good enough character in that room where we’re going to get it out of them.”
Pretty much the entire roster needs to play a lot better, but which specific players do the Bruins most need massive improvement from?
Here’s a list of five notable names.
Elias Lindholm, Center
The Bruins signed Lindholm to a seven-year, $54.25 million contract ($7.75 million salary cap hit) to be a No. 1 center who could drive offense for both himself and teammates. But so far, he’s been a complementary player at best, and that’s unacceptable for a player making just under $8 million annually.
Lindholm started out hot with five points (two goals, three assists) in the first three games. But he’s been invisible most games since, including a 17-game goal drought. He has just four assists during that span.
Lindholm began the season at first-line center alongside Pavel Zacha at left wing and David Pastrnak at right wing. The hope for the Bruins was that this line would develop instant chemistry and help Lindholm regain the form he showed during the 2021-22 season when he tallied career highs of 42 goals and 40 assists playing for the Calgary Flames. For whatever reason, the chemistry between Lindholm and Pastrnak just hasn’t developed.
Lindholm has nine points in 20 games overall, with only three at 5-on-5.
“He missed a lot of camp so he didn’t develop some chemistry with who we envisioned him playing and then they got off to a rough start and haven’t,” Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said of Lindholm at a press conference Wednesday.
“So, we bounced it around. They found a little bit more traction in terms of where their positionings are now in [Pavel] Zacha and [David] Pastrnak playing together. Brad [Marchand] and Elias, but it’s not translated to the results we want. So, it needs to be better. He’s acknowledged that publicly. It needs to be better.”
Lindholm’s struggles also have hurt the power play, a unit that ranks last in the league with a 11.7 percent success rate. Lindholm hasn’t excelled in the bumper role. He has zero goals and just three assists on the power play.
Lindholm has to be more aggressive looking…