Canucks in no rush to sign Lindholm to extension
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The Vancouver Canucks are in no rush to sign newly acquired forward Elias Lindholm to a long-term contract extension, according to TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun.
Vancouver acquired Lindholm from the Calgary Flames last month in exchange for a handful of assets, highlighted by right winger Andrei Kuzmenko and a 2024 first-round draft pick.
LeBrun says the Canucks would "love" to sign Lindholm to an extension, but want to give him time to adjust to his new team and home.
"The Canucks would love to sign him long-term, but they realize that the player has to adjust to his new surroundings," LeBrun said on Thursday's Insider Trading. "The reality is there’s no rush to get into that conversation. All things being equal, I think it will wait until the season is over for the Canucks and his representative get going on that conversation."
The 29-year-old Lindholm scored two goals in his Canucks debut, a 3-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday. Vancouver was shut out 4-0 against the Boston Bruins on Thursday.
Lindholm is in the final season of a six-year, $29.1 million contract, featuring an average annual value of $4.85 million, and will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
LeBrun notes that the Canucks have been interested in Lindholm for a while.
"Something to note is we can confirm that the Canucks not only had interest in him at the trade deadline but tried to acquire him all the way back into last summer. Around the time Craig Conroy became the general manager of the Calgary Flames, the Canucks showed interest in Lindholm, which is interesting because they didn’t know they’d be in first place months later when they got him.
"It tells you that they view him as a long-term fit if they can make it work."
The native of Sweden has 11 goals and 23 assists over 51 games this season.
Selected fifth overall by the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2013 NHL Draft, Lindholm has 214 goals and 333 assists over 794 career games with the Hurricanes, Flames and Canucks. He has eight goals and nine assists over 27 playoff games, all with the Flames.
The Canucks are leading the way in the Pacific Division with a 34-12-5 record.