Bruins Connection to UFA Elias Lindholm is Getting "Louder and Louder"

It's official now: Elias Lindholm is going to be an unrestricted free agent as of Monday, as reported by insider Darren Dreger on TSN's Insider Trading. The Vancouver Canucks acquired him from the Calgary Flames earlier this season, but they have no intention of matching the hefty contract demands of the Lindholm camp.

But one team that was connected to the two-way center all season—before, and even after the Canucks acquired him—is the Boston Bruins. They're still trying to sort out their center spot after last year's retirements of David Krejci and Patrice Bergeron.

Now that he's definitely hitting free agency, the Bruins are strongly connected to him once again, and that talk just continues to build, per David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period.

Chatter over the Boston Bruins and their interest in signing soon-to-be unrestricted free agent center Elias Lindholm is getting louder and louder.

There was even some talk at the trade deadline that the Canucks were considering flipping Lindholm to Boston in order to make an attempt to acquire Jake Guentzel at the time.

The 29-year-old Lindholm is projected to be able to command well north of $7 million annually on a new long-term deal, and the Bruins are determined to give it to him. They have about $20 million in cap space.

Lindholm didn't have a great impact on the Canucks in the regular season after coming over from Calgary, totalling just six goals and 12 points in 26 games in less than 18 minutes of ice time a night. But he re-established his value for his free agent summer with a strong playoff performance, notching 10 points in 13 post-season games, while playing over 19 minutes a game, more along the lines of his recent career norms.