Rick Tocchet suggested Elias Lindholm isn't 'fully healthy' as he struggles with a lengthy goal drought.
The Vancouver Canucks took a home run swing with their acquisition of Elias Lindholm well ahead of the trade deadline. They spent their two biggest trade assets — or at least the two they were willing to part with — to get the centre from the Calgary Flames: their 2024 first-round pick and prospect defenceman Hunter Brzustewicz.
"It's tough to score goals if you don't shoot the puck." At the very least, Tocchet's revelation provides some context for his struggles and potentially a little bit of forgiveness from demanding Canucks fans. But as for Lindholm himself, he makes no excuses and is as demanding on himself as fans are, if not more so.
Even with that in mind, Lindholm feels like his game is coming around. While he didn’t get any shots on goal against the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night, he did have four shot attempts and created several dangerous chances for his linemates, Ilya Mikheyev and Sam Lafferty. By the end of the game, that line had a 16-to-6 advantage in shot attempts when they were on the ice together at 5-on-5, while high-danger chances were 5-to-1.
Instead, Tocchet drills down to smaller details — moving feet more on one specific play or releasing the puck more quickly on another.
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