Elias Lindholm hopes to be the piece that takes the Bruins to the top

Elias Lindholm has been in his new home in the Boston area for over a month.

With a new baby on the way, the Lindholms wanted to settle in early. So far, the transition has been seamless for Lindholm in his move to Boston and the pressure that comes with playing in this market.

Well, almost seamless.

“I’m not a big fan, but I’ll get used to it,” Lindholm said of navigating traffic in Boston.

Even with those expected learning curves when it comes to navigating the traffic jams on 93 and Mass Pike, Lindholm already feels like a natural fit on his new team.

Lindholm, a veteran top-six center with an established two-way pedigree, may not be Patrice Bergeron, but one of his new teammates can see the links between the two 200-foot pivots.

“You bring in a guy who plays 200 feet, who is extremely responsible — I certainly don’t want to compare the two, but we had someone like that for a long time who plays in our system,” Charlie McAvoy said of Lindholm and Bergeron. “We’re a defense-focused team. We really pride ourselves on that end of the court. So we have him now, and I think he’ll fit in perfectly here.”

Lindholm, the protagonist of Boston’s free-agent spending spree, is expected to bolster an already solid talent base with the Bruins, giving Boston a proven first-line center, a defensive bulwark capable of shutting down top-six matchups and an ace at the faceoff point.

“I think there are a lot of good players here, it’s a really good team,” Lindholm said. “I think last season, they were right up there with Florida and had a good matchup, and obviously Florida ended up winning. So I think this team obviously has a lot of good pieces, and I look forward to coming in and adding to this group and hopefully adding some depth to a really strong group.”

Lindholm’s resume speaks for itself when it comes to his impact on the ice. The 29-year-old center has three 60-plus point seasons on his resume, headlined by a 42-goal, 82-point output with Calgary in 2021-22. He finished second to Bergeron in voting for the Selke Trophy as the league’s top defensive forward that same season.

But Lindholm is coming off a bit of a down year, with the Swede limited to just 44 points (15 goals, 29 assists) in 75 games with the Flames and Canucks during the 2023-24 season.

Admittedly, part of that was a result of his odd placement on Vancouver’s roster, with Lindholm earning reps at both third-line centre and top-six small forward because Elias Pettersson and JT Miller occupied the top two center spots.

But Lindholm managed to find his game at the right time with Vancouver, scoring 10 points in 13 postseason games while his 56.4 faceoff percentage in 2023-24 remained a career-high.

“I always considered myself a two-way forward,” Lindholm said. “Obviously, I think I can score points. And obviously last season didn’t go as well as I would have liked. But I think in the playoffs, I kind of found my game again and that’s how I want to play.”

A full season alongside David Pastrnak should help Lindholm regain more of his scoring touch in Boston, especially given his expected role in the backcourt on the power play.

The veteran center didn’t want to get into any lineup decisions with less than two weeks until training camp, but Lindholm’s skills and a solid supporting cast should allow him and the Bruins to thrive going forward.

“He’s one of the best players in the league,” Lindholm said of playing with Pastrnak. “Obviously, if that’s the case, it’s super exciting, but we’ll see what happens. There’s a lot of good players on this team and that’s why I wanted to come here.

“I think we have a good chance to do something special. And obviously you always want to win. And I feel like right now we have a good chance.”