The Vancouver Canucks lost two premier free agents last summer to the Boston Bruins, but their start with the new team hasn’t been a perfectly smooth transition.
Both Nikita Zadorov and Elias Lindholm, acquired by the Canucks during last season, signed with the Eastern Conference team in free agency. The contracts were worth a lot of money, $12.75 million per season combined, and both were expected to be standout players.
That has not been the case for the first few weeks of the season.
While there were a few good performances to start the season, neither player has had the first month they would’ve liked.
Zadorov has no goals and four assists in 14 games. While the advanced analytics aren’t terrible, he’s third among team blueliners in Corsi and second in expected goals share. It’s clear he hasn’t been a perfect fit, and the team isn’t overjoyed with the results.
“I don’t see him pressing,” said Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery about Zadorov today. “I think overall he’s finding his way in our systems, and I think at times he looks like he’s understanding exactly what we’re trying to accomplish, and at times he looks like he’s not.”
Lindholm hasn’t been a superstar either. The Bruins handed him a massive eight-year contract worth $7.75 million per season.
He scored five points in his first three games and looked like he was set for a big year. However, Lindholm has just three assists and no goals over his last 11 games. The offence has completely dried up.
The Bruins are scoring just 1.21 goals-per-60-five-on-five-minutes with Lindholm on the ice so far. That’s not a good rate, and you expect more from your star free-agent centre.
There’s still a lot of season left to play, but the early returns on the Lindholm and Zadorov signing have been far from ideal for the Bruins.