Prove what?

That he’s worth the 8.5m comparable to Horvat and Scheifele after this year over a long term contract. He’ll be put in a good situation to recover his value.

Come to Boston on a 1 year deal and if he does welll, he gets the comparable contract long term.

Or choose 7M AAV which is a discount over what he probably was expecting at the beginning of the year

He's an 11 year vet. There's nothing to prove. He would be absolutely foolish to take that

Which one? The 7M AAV offer over 7 years or the 8.5m, 1 year deal m. My assumption is it comes with a promise to extend it by 6 years if he shows well.

The unfortunate item is he’s coming off a bad year. He isn’t getting 8.5m over 7 years

So he should risk 40 million dollars to maybe make an extra 10?

Ask John klingberg how that worked out.

I agree... some team will give him a long term deal at that inflated AAV and then regret it

There is a risk. I would take the guaranteed long term contract if I were him.

Lindholm prove it: $7m x 1
Lindholm long-term: $6m x 5

I still feel for Klinger on that fumbling of the bag

He has too long of a track record for that to be the case. This year was poor, but at the beginning of the year … he was likely a shoe in to make 7, 8.5M AAV. He was everybody’s first choice over Scheifele

Hanifin just F'd ya by resigning in Vegas

Glad for him. Did he just create two new free agent options at forward or three?

I think Vegas has gotta moved a piece or two
Plethora of lefty D now.
Yes please!

despite Hanifin being off the board now i hope lindholm doesnt sign a massive extension here. just not sure he's worth the 7.5 long term.. admittedly i don't see him play alot but in what i have seen i don't see what value he brings over a Zacha.

The real question is whether this year is a blip like JT Miller last year or if it is a sign of decline. Last year, cap friendly was all about how JT was an albatross and he returned to form.

We have one of the best GM’s in the league whose latest moves have pretty much all been very good. I trust his judgment.

I do think we have the opportunity to bring in a star player and before this year, Lindholm would have been most people’s top choice. One bad year doesn’t disqualify years of very good two way play, but it probably warrants some understandable pause.

Things change, but Sweeney has been trying to acquire him. And Friedman reported one of the reasons that Vancouver beat out Boston was Sweeney wanted to lock him in long term before giving up limited assets. He also reported that they would be in line if he made it to free agency. I believe Boston will be at the front of the line.

There are other forward options if you believe Zacha is a center. He’s certainly been playing well since the trade deadline

MIller since coming over from Tampa has been a point a game player, Lindholm on the other hand hasn't always been to that level. and not that they need to be offensive juggernauts but Lindholm best years came with some pretty high end wingers but is pretty average without them. i think he's a fine player but for me my concern is the age of the player and the length of contract we're going to give out to him.

Miller was not playing to his level last year. He was not a plus defender after a career of being one. Hai defensive efficiency metrics were in the bottom third, which is an absolute anomaly, fans were openly talking about sending him to Pittsburgh despite his history

Using the point per game status was how fans of other teams discounted Patrice Bergeron. Outside of this year, Lindholm has been a very good two way center whose advanced stats were extremely good,

He’s struggled this year. 100% acknowledged. If he would have been acquired in free agency last offseason, the deal would have been lauded and he would have been viewed as the missing piece. It’s one year.

What you or I think is irrelevant. It’s what Sweeney thinks which matters. I will say that Don tends to focus on his own evaluations rather than fit within their previous system. It’s one of the reasons I believe Lindholm is more likely than not at this point. Things change. See Hanifin.

all good points, I just hope he doesn't feel a pressure to sign Lindholm to address the C position. he's absolutely nailed some offseason signings but also made some mistakes, i think Lindholm would fit and has a similar style to what would compliment the group but as you said things change and FA is still aways away.

Sweeney hasn’t made many mistakes recently and I will go with his judgment, because frankly … if not for the Miller fiasco, he deserved GM of the year last year and I’d argue this year was better.

People lost their head over the Peeke deal. Now it looks very intelligent. I think he’s found a group around him that is suited to make good decisions