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Hampus Lindholm

Bruins To Activate Hampus Lindholm, Reassign Michael Callahan

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The Boston Bruins will have most of their defensive core intact for their upcoming contest tonight. According to Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald, the Bruins have activated Hampus Lindholm and assigned Michael Callahan to the AHL’s Providence Bruins in a corresponding roster move.

Lindholm has already missed eight games for Boston this season due to a lower-body injury. He originally suffered the injury against the Chicago Blackhawks on October 9th, leaving the game after only 4:26 of ice time. He has been skating with the team regularly since and managed a full game against the Colorado Avalanche on October 18th, but has had some lingering concerns since.

Still, considering his injury history from last year, the Bruins are likely being extremely cautious with Lindholm’s health. After scoring 13 goals and 79 points in 153 games with a +67 rating with Boston from 2022 to 2024, a fractured patella limited him to only 17 contests during the 2024-25 campaign.

The fact that he’s already missed eight games should be concerning. He’s been relatively unnoticeable in the three games he has played in, going scoreless with two shots on goal. His possession and defensive metrics have been particularly poor, managing a 34.2% CorsiFor% at even strength, and an 85.0% on-ice SV% at even strength.

Meanwhile, Callahan returns to Providence after three games with Boston. Like Lindholm, he went scoreless while averaging 16:27 of ice time, but managed much better possession metrics. Callahan was originally recalled when the Bruins placed Jordan Harris on IR, meaning Jonathan Aspirot will retain his spot on the roster for the time being.

Atlantic Notes: Kane, Bryson, Lindholm, McCue

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Red Wings winger Patrick Kane suffered an injury late in Friday’s victory over Tampa Bay when he crashed hard into the boards.  He’s now set to miss at least one game due to the injury as Max Bultman of The Athletic relays (Twitter link) that the veteran has been ruled out of playing tomorrow against Edmonton.  The 36-year-old is off to a strong start to his season with two goals and three assists in his first five outings, good for third on the team in scoring but he won’t be adding to those totals for at least a few days.  There’s no word yet on if he’ll miss any more time beyond Sunday’s outing.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic:

  • The Sabres announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Jacob Bryson suffered an upper-body injury this afternoon against Florida. The injury occurred on his first shift of the game after taking a hit from Jonah Gadjovich.  Bryson came into the games with an assist through his first four games of the season while averaging a career-low 11:31 per game, an ATOI number that’s certainly going to take a dip after today’s contest.  Zach Metsa is the only other healthy blueliner on Buffalo’s roster so if Bryson is set to miss any more time, Metsa should be in line for his NHL debut soon.
  • After missing the last three games with a lower-body injury, Bruins defenseman Hampus Lindholm is listed as a game-time decision for tonight’s game against Colorado, notes team reporter Belle Fraser (Twitter link). When healthy, Lindholm is a top-pairing impactful blueliner but staying in the lineup has been a challenge lately; he missed 65 games last season due to a knee injury.
  • Maple Leafs prospect Sam McCue announced on his Instagram account earlier this week that he has committed to Bowling Green State University. The 20-year-old was a seventh-round pick by Toronto back in 2024 and is off to a strong start in his final season of major junior, putting up four goals and two assists in eight games with OHL Brampton.

Injury Notes: Klingberg, Liljegren, Lindholm

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A trio of Swedish defensemen have been banged up, but are not expected to miss much time. First, out of San Jose, Sheng Peng of NBC Sports California updated earlier today that John Klingberg and Timothy Liljegren are out day-to-day, and are questionable for Friday, when the Sharks go to Utah. Both players were hurt last night, as San Jose was drubbed by Carolina, although each played high minutes. Liljegren is considered upper-body, which aligns with when he appeared shaken up after going down hard in an attempt to pin a Hurricane along the boards. 

Peng also added a key note, that fortunately, given that it was listed as lower-body, Klingberg’s ailment is not related to his ongoing hip trouble. For now, the Sharks could turn to Vincent Desharnais to make his season debut, along with the more intriguing young Shakir Mukhamadullin, who posted two assists in his only game this season. 

Elsewhere across the league:

  • Bruins Head Coach Marco Sturm recently told Belle Fraser, Multimedia Producer of the team, that Hampus Lindholm is also day-to-day, but is expected to resume skating tomorrow. The veteran enjoyed a major career resurgence in Boston in 2022-23, but unfortunately has been chasing it since, especially with an injury riddled 2024-25. Thankfully, Lindholm has managed to skate in two games for Boston so far, as he looks to get back on track and hope to help lead the team back to the playoffs come spring. 

Atlantic Notes: Kulikov, Lindholm, Batherson, Ratzlaff

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Late last night, the Florida Panthers quietly moved defenseman Dmitry Kulikov to the injured reserve. Unfortunately, although the team hasn’t commented on his status, reporting from George Richards of Florida Hockey Now indicates that it could be a long-term absence for their bottom-pairing blueliner.

The injury occurred during the Panthers’ win over the Philadelphia Flyers, their second game of the season. After attempting to hit Flyers forward Bobby Brink partway through the second period, Kulikov left the game after appearing to hurt his right wrist.

Passing along a note from head coach Paul Maurice, Richards’ report suggests that surgery is on the table for Kulikov, and that the team would make a more concrete decision this evening. Since the IR placement is retroactive to Thursday night, Kulikov is eligible to return from the IR on October 16th. However, if he requires surgery to repair his wrist, he’ll be out significantly longer.

Other notes from the Atlantic Division:

  • Another defenseman in the Atlantic will be sidelined, though not as long as Kulikov. According to Steve Conroy of The Boston Herald, Boston Bruins blueliner Hampus Lindholm is considered day-to-day with an undisclosed ailment. Lindholm left the team’s overtime win against the Chicago Blackhawks after having only skated in 4:26 of the action.
  • In more positive injury news, the Ottawa Senators could be getting a major boost to their forward core. Although he was ruled out for the team’s recent game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, forward Drake Batherson alluded to a return tonight or Monday in an interview with Bruce Garrioch of The Ottawa Citizen. Remarkably, the Senators’ first game of the year was the first Batherson has missed since the 2021-22 campaign, playing in 246 consecutive regular-season contests for Ottawa.
  • In an update unrelated to injuries, the Buffalo Sabres have shifted around some of their organizational goaltending depth. According to a team announcement, the Sabres have reassigned netminder Scott Ratzlaff to the ECHL’s Jacksonville Icemen. Ratzlaff, 20, who was selected with the 141st overall pick of the 2023 NHL Draft, spent last season with the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds, managing a 23-19-4 record in 49 games with a .910 SV%.

Injury Notes: Lindholm, Trocheck, Brodin

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The Boston Bruins announced tonight that veteran defenseman Hampus Lindholm has suffered a lower-body injury and will not return to their game against the Chicago Blackhawks. While there is obviously no further information on Lindholm’s status beyond that update, it is nonetheless far from encouraging news for one of Boston’s most important players.

It’s especially unfortunate for Lindholm to be forced out of a game due to injury so early in the season given the injury issues he faced in 2024-25. Injuries limited Lindholm to just 17 games played last season, the fewest of any year thus far in his 763-game NHL career. Lindholm is the Bruins’ clear number-two defenseman behind star Charlie McAvoy, averaging nearly 21 minutes of ice time last season including significant time on each of the two special teams. The hope will be that Lindholm’s removal from this game is more of a precautionary measure, and that this lower-body injury turns out to be something relatively minor, as much of the Bruins’ hopes for this season rest on the availability of one of their top blueliners.

Other notes from across the NHL:

  • The New York Rangers announced tonight that center Vincent Trocheck would not return to their game against the Buffalo Sabres due to an upper-body injury. While there is no word on the extent of Trocheck’s injury beyond being held out of the rest of tonight’s game, any extended absence would be a signifcant blow to the Rangers. Trocheck is an important all-situations second-line center for the Rangers. Not only does he center star winger Artemi Panarin and play on the Rangers’ first power play unit, he also was the team’s most-used penalty killing forward last season.
  • Minnesota Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin remains out while he recovers from offseason upper-body surgery, though his absence may be coming to an end. Wild coach John Hynes told the media today, including the Minnesota Star Tribune’s Sarah McLellan, that Brodin’s return is “imminent.” Brodin is a veteran top-four blueliner who has battled persistent injury issues over the last few years. Last season, he was limited to just 50 games, and he has not reached the 70-game threshold since 2021-22.

Atlantic Notes: Lindholm, Jarnkrok, Sandin-Pellikka

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Bruins defenseman Hampus Lindholm was only able to play the first five weeks of the season before a fractured kneecap ended his 2024-25 campaign early.  He told Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe that he has now fully recovered from that injury and will be fully ready to participate in training camp next month.  The 31-year-old has been a steadying presence on the back end for Boston since they acquired him back in 2022 and is only a couple of years removed from a career-best 53-point season.  With the Bruins looking to get back into the playoff picture this coming season, having a top-pairing blueliner in Lindholm back in their lineup will certainly help those efforts.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic:

  • Maple Leafs winger Calle Jarnkrok missed most of last season after undergoing groin and sports hernia surgeries in mid-November. While he returned down the stretch, he struggled to the point of being scratched at times.  The veteran told Gefle Dagblad’s Marcus Hagerborn that he knew when he had the procedures that he wouldn’t be fully healthy for a while upon returning.  However, he noted that he has gotten back to that point just recently which is a good sign heading into training camp next month.  Jarnkrok has one year left on his contract with a $2.1MM cap charge and a solid, healthy start to next season might make their current efforts to move him a little easier.
  • While Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman hasn’t ruled out prospect Axel Sandin-Pellikka from breaking camp with Detroit in a couple of months, MLive’s Ansar Khan suggests that outcome is unlikely. The 20-year-old was a first-round pick back in 2023 (17th overall) and had a strong season in Sweden last year, picking up 12 goals and 17 assists in 46 games with SHL Skelleftea.  He also was one of the top scorers at the World Juniors and got his feet wet with five games with AHL Grand Rapids (including playoffs) in the spring.  But Detroit tends to favor slow-playing the development of their top prospects, allowing them to work on some things with the Griffins before giving them a real NHL look.  Between that and not opening up any spots on the back end this summer, Sandin-Pellikka seems likely to continue that trend.

Hampus Lindholm Unlikely To Return This Season

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One of the oft-forgotten aspects of the Boston Bruins’ disappointing 2024-25 campaign is the lack of one of Hampus Lindholm for much of the regular season. This reality isn’t likely to change anytime as general manager Don Sweeney shared (publicized by Conor Ryan of The Boston Globe) that Lindholm isn’t expected to return this season.

The injury update concludes a lost season for Lindholm. The 12-year veteran will finish the 2024-25 season with three goals and four assists in 17 games averaging 20:51 of ice time per night before fracturing his patella on November 12.

If there’s any silver lining for Lindholm, injuries haven’t followed him throughout his career. This year is only the second time he’s played less than 80% of his team’s games. The last time he failed to play in at least 50 games came during the 2020-21 season with the Anaheim Ducks when a wrist injury limited him to just 18 contests.

Still, injuries aside, Lindholm’s performance has declined over the past two years. In Lindholm’s defense, the 2023-24 season wouldn’t have been such a disappointment had he not had a breakout season the year prior. The Helsingborg, Sweden native scored 10 goals and 53 points in 80 games during his first full year in Boston carrying a league-leading +49 rating. It shattered Lindholm’s previous career-high 34 points scoring in 2014-15.

Lindholm’s impressive 2022-23 season earned him a fourth-place finish for the James Norris Memorial Trophy. Unfortunately, he took a dramatic step back last year. He finished the campaign with three goals and 23 assists in 73 games despite increasing his average ice time by six seconds.

Nevertheless, a bone fracture rarely becomes a lingering issue for many players giving Lindholm multiple months to prepare for the 2025-26 season. He’s still a capable top-four defenseman signed to a modest $6.5MM salary until the 2029-30 season giving the Bruins at least some long-term consistency on their blue line.

Bruins Notes: Kastelic, Lindholm, Koepke

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The Boston Bruins received a handful of injury updates at Friday morning’s practice. Most pressing, winger Mark Kastelic returned to full practices and could possibly return to the lineup when the Bruins visit the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. In a video posted on the team’s social media, Kastelic told media after practice that he’s hoping to return, but doesn’t want to rush anything. Kastelic has missed Boston’s last two games with an upper-body injury. He was placed on injured reserve on January 14th.

This is already Kastelic’s second injury of the season. He previously missed three days with a lower-body injury in November. He has been a key piece of Boston’s third line when healthy, recording 12 points in 43 games and averaging 11:19 in ice time this season. Kastelic is in his first season with the Bruins, after joining the team in the trade that sent Linus Ullmark to Ottawa. The change of scenery came with a boosted role – bumping Kastelic up after three years on Ottawa’s fourth-line. He’s clearly satisfied the Bruins’ expectations, earning a three-year, $4.7MM extension with the club earlier this month. Kastelic fell to injury just a few games after signing that deal, meaning a return from injury will mean a return to vindicating his new price tag.

In other Bruins news, top defender Hampus Lindholm returned to practice in a non-contact jersey on Friday, shares Joe Haggerty of the Boston Sports Journal. Lindholm has missed Boston’s last 29 games after he suffered a lower-body injury on November 12th. He was one of the Bruins’ most-utilized defenders in November, averaging 22:44 in ice time in his last four games before injury. Lindholm also managed seven points in 17 games, putting him on pace for 34 points across 82 games before he fell for the long-term. That total would have stood as the third-highest scoring season of Lindholm’s 12-year career. This news marks one step closer to Lindholm working back into the role of routine scoring and top-pair minutes.

Finally, Haggerty shared that forward Cole Koepke won’t play in the team’s Saturday game, per head coach Joe Sacco. Koepke sustained an injury with 10 minutes left in Boston’s Tuesday win over Tampa Bay, after taking a big hit from Bolts defenseman Darren Raddysh. Koepke immediately left for the locker room. Raddysh did not receive a penalty on the play. Koepke has so far been designated as day-to-day, though no specifics of his injury have been revealed. He’s also rotated through Boston’s middle-six this season, netting 12 points in 44 games while averaging just under 11 minutes of ice time each game. This is Koepke’s first full season on an NHL lineup, after combining for three points in 26 games with Tampa Bay over the last two seasons.

Bruins Recall Matthew Poitras, Place Charlie McAvoy On IR

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Bruins center prospect Matthew Poitras is at the team’s morning skate on Tuesday, per Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald, indicating he’s been recalled from AHL Providence. The team quickly made Poitras’ recall official, announcing that they’ve also recalled defenseman Michael Callahan from Providence and placed No. 1 blue-liner Charlie McAvoy on injured reserve with an undisclosed ailment. Center Mark Kastelic, who’s already missed a game with an upper-body injury, landed on IR to create a necessary roster spot. Defenseman Hampus Lindholm, who’s been out since Nov. 12 with a lower-body injury, was moved from IR to LTIR to open up the required salary cap flexibility.

It’s quite a lot of gameday news for Boston, which risks falling out of playoff position with a loss to the Lightning tonight. They’ve already dropped to 11th in the Eastern Conference in points percentage after a 3-6-1 skid in their last 10, but they remain ahead of their competitors in the standings because they’ve played two or three more games than each of their challengers. They could be leapfrogged by the Blue Jackets and Senators if both those clubs win their games tonight against the Flyers and Islanders, respectively.

Poitras is expected to center the third line in his first NHL game in over two months, per Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic. Veteran Charlie Coyle will likely sit but is a game-time decision due to illness, head coach Joe Sacco told Joe Haggerty of the Boston Sports Journal.

Selected 54th overall in 2022, the 20-year-old Poitras unexpectedly forced his way onto the Bruins’ roster last season with a standout training camp and emerged as a legitimate top-nine option, recording 15 points in 33 games before surgery on his right shoulder ended his season in January. This year, he dealt with an undisclosed injury for much of camp and managed four points in 14 games upon his return before Boston sent him down to Providence for additional development.

Poitras has been quite good in his first taste of AHL action, logging eight goals and 12 assists for 20 points in 23 games with the P-Bruins. It’s unclear if Boston intends to keep him around after Coyle and Kastelic are healthy again, but nonetheless, it’s a strong sign that the Ontario native is still on track to be a long-term contributor at the NHL level.

Callahan, 25, is expected to serve as a healthy scratch while Parker Wotherspoon enters the lineup, but he’ll be on hand as an extra if anyone sustains a last-minute injury. The 6’2″ lefty has no NHL experience to his name but is now in his fourth season with Providence, where he has six points and a plus-one rating in 35 showings while serving as an alternate captain.

Selected in the fifth round of the 2018 draft by the Coyotes, Boston acquired his signing rights in a 2022 trade shortly before the Massachusetts native was set to wrap up his collegiate career at Providence. He’s set to test the open market this summer as he’s due to be eligible for Group VI unrestricted free agency.

Kastelic’s and Lindholm’s moves are purely procedural, but McAvoy’s IR placement is a surprise. Sacco told Haggerty that the star blue-liner has been “dealing with a nagging injury” and will be shut down for at least a week to see how it responds. He’ll be eligible to return next Monday against the Sharks, ruling him out for two games at least.

McAvoy, 27, is having the worst season of his career offensively, with 20 points through 45 games. His 0.44 points-per-game rate is the first time he’s tracking under 0.5 through his eight-year career, although his even-strength possession numbers have improved to a 51.2 CF% after last year’s underwhelming 48.6% mark.

His offensive regression has come hand in hand with Boston’s limping power play, which is finishing at just a 13.2% clip more than halfway through the season. That’s third-worst in the league, ahead of only the fledgling Ducks and Islanders.

Injury Updates: Wild, Nichushkin, Lindholm, Jost

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The lower-body injury that Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon sustained on Tuesday isn’t as bad as initially feared.  However, it’s still expected to keep him out of the lineup for the next two to three weeks, reports Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press.  The 35-year-old has logged at least 20 minutes a night on the back end in every year but his rookie season back in 2010-11.  Spurgeon has 13 points and 52 blocked shots in 32 games so far this season.

Meanwhile, Minnesota might be getting a different key blueliner back soon.  Whyno adds that defenseman Jake Middleton could return as soon as next week from the hand injury that has kept him out for the last three weeks, landing him on LTIR.  Middleton had 13 points in 29 games before the injury while his 76 blocks still lead the Wild.

Other injury news from around the NHL:

  • Avalanche winger Valeri Nichushkin is listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury, mentions Corey Masisak of The Denver Post. However, head coach Jared Bednar added that the 29-year-old could miss seven to ten days with the issue.  Nichushkin has been quite productive since returning from a stint in the Player Assistance Program, notching 11 goals and six assists in just 21 games, putting him in a tie for fourth in team goals despite missing 17 games.
  • Bruins defenseman Hampus Lindholm is making some strides as he works his way back from a lower-body injury but hasn’t been cleared to skate yet, notes Boston.com’s Conor Ryan. The veteran has missed the better part of the last two months with the injury, a big blow to a Boston back end that has had some uncharacteristic struggles so far.  Prior to the injury, Lindholm had seven points in 17 games while logging nearly 21 minutes a night, a per-game rate that stands second on the team.
  • The undisclosed injury that Hurricanes forward Tyson Jost sustained on Tuesday is expected to keep him out long-term, relays team reporter Walt Ruff (Twitter link). The 26-year-old cleared waivers earlier this season but played in 16 games with Carolina since being recalled in November.  Jost has a pair of goals in those outings while averaging 10:28 per game but he won’t be adding to that point total for a while yet now.

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