Bruins Rumors: Proposed Trade Could Land Elias Lindholm in Boston

We've heard the rumors all season long: the Boston Bruins are looking for a strong two-way center to replace the departed Patrice Bergeron. We've also heard the B's name linked to prime Calgary Flames' trade candidate Elias Lindholm. He would, after all, fit the Bruins' needs to a T.

It will take some finagling, however, for the Bruins, as they currently have less than a million in cap room, while Lindholm has a $4.85 million cap hit.

So how could Boston make a trade for Lindholm work, and what would Calgary be looking for in return? Corey Pronman and Julian McKenzie of The Athletic took a swing at it, and came up with the following proposed trade:

Bruins Receive:

Elias Lindholm

Flames Receive:

Bruins' 1st-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft
Matt Poitras, C
Trent Frederic, LW

While the first-rounder next year might not be a very high one coming from Boston, the Flames would get an impressive young center in return, the 19-year-old Poitras. He was the Bruins' second-round pick in 2022 (54th overall). The playmaking youngster has 15 points in 33 games in his rookie season, playing 13:24 minutes per game. Pronman, The Athletic's NHL prospects specialist, calls Poitras "a highly skilled playmaker" and one of the Bruins' "few desirable young players." He'd be a score for the Flames in this proposed deal.

Frederic, about to turn 26, provides a chuck of salary for the B's to unload, with a $2.3 million cap hit through next season. He's a decent middle-six forward for the Flames to plug into their lineup in return while they go about their rebuild.

With the $870,000 cap hit of Poitras off the books in addition to Frederic's $2.3M, plus the $862.500 they're currently under the cap, that gives the Bruins just over $4 million in cap space, leaving them just a minor move to get to Lindholm's $4.85M.

The Bruins are still the class of the Atlantic Division and fancy themselves a Stanley Cup contender once again this season, so if they can somehow manage to bring in a proven veteran center like Lindholm, they'd have to seriously consider pulling the trigger.