According to a team announcement, the Boston Bruins have placed forward Elias Lindholm on the injured reserve and recalled forward Alex Steeves in a corresponding roster move. Lindholm’s IR placement is likely retroactive to October 30th, when he originally sustained the injury.
The move was largely expected. Lindholm sustained a lower-body injury against the Buffalo Sabres on October 30th, and it was initially believed that he would miss several weeks. The Bruins confirmed the following day that the timeline was accurate after Lindholm underwent an MRI.
Before the injury, Lindholm had gotten off to a relatively solid start to the season. Through 13 games, Boston’s first-line center scored four goals and nine points with a 57.5% success rate in the faceoff dot. It wasn’t on par with his point-per-game average from the 2021-22 campaign with the Calgary Flames, though he would have bested last year’s performance by 10 or so points had he continued the pace.
Fortunately, the Bruins haven’t missed a beat since Lindholm exited the lineup. The team has utilized 23-year-old Marat Khusnutdinov in his stead, centering Morgan Geekie and David Pastrňák on Boston’s first line. The team has won three straight and has an important matchup against the Toronto Maple Leafs this evening.
Meanwhile, the Bruins have recalled a former Maple Leaf to fill Lindholm’s void on the active roster. Steeves is in his first year with Boston after signing a one-year, $850K contract with them over the offseason. He cleared waivers on October 6th after failing to make the team’s roster out of training camp.
Thus far, Steeves has gotten off to a quality start with the AHL’s Providence Bruins, scoring three goals and eight points in nine games. Throughout his time with Toronto, which was largely spent with the AHL Marlies, Steeves scored one goal and three points in 14 NHL games from 2021 to 2025.