Elias Lindholm made his Vancouver Canucks debut following the blockbuster deal that sent Andrei Kuzmenko and assets to the Calgary Flames in exchange for the Swedish center. Daily Faceoff’s Tyler Yaremchuk and Colby Cohen talk about Lindholm’s two-goal debut with Vancouver and how he fits into the system moving forward.
Tyler Yaremchuk: Elias Lindholm ends up with two goals in his Vancouver Canucks debut. He was the big flash add for a team that has Stanley Cup aspirations and scored twice on the powerplay and at five on five he didn’t stand out that impactful but that will come. What did you make of Lindholm’s debut and the fit with the Canucks?
Colby Cohen: Well he played on the wing at five on ice so there’s an adjustment period there and playing with Elias Pettersson who’s so cerebral. I’m not surprised that he had some success right away, look at the way he plays, he has a hard skill. He doesn’t need to do flashy things, doesn’t need the puck on his stick constantly, he’s good along the walls defensively and just that all around 200 foot player that has a ton of offensive upside.
Colby Cohen: He scored both goals last night right on top of the blue paint and he’s normally not a net-front guy on the powerplay but he understands that on this team “I’m not going to control the half wall; we’ve got Pettersson and Brock Boeser.” So I think his ability to realize where he fits on the totem pole and his actual skill set and willingness to play in a hard skill role, I don’t think power forward is the right term for him but he does play a heavy brand of hockey. He’s a heavy center who can win a lot of battles and create offensively.
More must-reads: