How the Lindholm trade gives Bruins excellent defensive foundation long term

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The Boston Bruins don't have the ideal amount of scoring depth going into the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs, or beyond this season for that matter.

The B's failed to add an impact forward or depth forward before Monday afternoon's NHL trade deadline. Boston isn't a bad offensive team by any means, but if it suffers any more injuries or cold streaks, the depth up front could quickly become a problem.

The same cannot be said for the blue line, though.

The Bruins are building an excellent foundation on the back end, one significantly bolstered by the acquisition of star defenseman Hampus Lindholm from the Anaheim Ducks.

Why the Hampus Lindholm trade bolsters Bruins' Stanley Cup chances

Lindholm is a legit first-pairing caliber d-man with an excellent two-way skill set, plays in all situations, contributes to special teams and logs 20-plus minutes per game against the opponents' best players.

If he plays alongside Charlie McAvoy, the Bruins will have one of the top three pairings in the entire league. A second pairing of Matt Grzelcyk and Brandon Carlo is quite solid, too.

"They're both (McAvoy and Carlo) great players," Lindholm said on a Zoom call with reporters Sunday. "The whole team itself, there are some really good players in the squad. I want to be a guy known for making guys better out there when I'm on the ice. Any guy that I play with, I'm a guy that wants to be that (Swiss Army knife) that fits into any role and any minutes.

"That's the kind of thing that's always been my strength and something that I value a lot as a defenseman. That two-way defenseman you can put anywhere in a situation to help the team win."

The best part of this foursome is it's signed long term -- giving the Bruins a fantastic core at a key position group to help lead them in the post-Patrice Bergeron era, whenever that starts.

"Bringing in a player like Hampus, (with) his age and where he's at in his career, I think it's ideal for where our group is," Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said at a press conference Sunday.

"I think the fact we're going to sign him (to a long-term deal) and you realize Charlie is signed long term, Brandon is signed long term. We've got foundational pieces that will continue to make us a tough team to play against."

The Bruins did sign Lindholm to an extension worth $52 million ($6.5 million salary cap hit) over eight years.

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The Bruins were already one of the league's best defensive teams before acquiring Lindholm and depth defenseman Josh Brown at the trade deadline. Boston, with its fundamentally sound defensive structure, gives up very few quality scoring chances during 5-on-5 action.

We haven't even talked about goaltending yet.

The Bruins have a strong duo in net led by rookie Jeremy Swayman and veteran Linus Ullmark. Swayman has taken over the No. 1 job, and that's evident in his performance and the quality of opponents he starts against. 

Swayman has an astounding .952 save percentage and 1.30 GAA at 5-on-5 in the 12 games he's played since Tuukka Rask retired in February. None of the 22 goalies with 500-plus 5-on-5 minutes played since Feb. 9 have a better save percentage than Swayman, per Natural Stat Trick.

The Bruins having McAvoy, Lindholm, Carlo and Gryzelck in the prime of their careers and signed for the foreseeable future is an encouraging development for the franchise. Add in Swayman's age (23), talent and cheap entry-level contract that runs through 2022-23, and you have the ingredients for a very solid defensive foundation moving forward.

Sure, the offense has weaknesses, and those will grow even larger if Bergeron doesn't come back next season. But you have to start somewhere, and few teams are built better at the back right now and into the future than Boston.

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