Bruins’ banged-up blue line gets more bad news with Hampus Lindholm

Boston Bruins

“It’s not going to be a day-to-day thing.”

The Bruins’ blue line has taken another hit ahead of the final game of their five-game road trip.

Speaking to reporters in Seattle on Monday afternoon, Bruins head coach Marco Sturm said that defenseman Hampus Lindholm is going to miss some time moving forward due to an injury. 

While no official timeline has been set for the 31-year-old defenseman, Sturm noted that Lindholm will be on the shelf for some time. 

“It’s not going to be a day-to-day thing,” Sturm said of Lindholm’s status. “Hopefully it’s not too long, but he’s definitely going to be out for a little bit. We’ll have to do more testing when we’re back in Boston so we can go from there.”

Sturm added that Lindholm had “been hurt”, although it’s unclear when the defenseman suffered this latest setback. He did finish Saturday’s overtime win over the Canucks without any evident injury, recording an assist and finishing with 22:47 of ice time in that road victory. 

Sturm said that Lindholm has not traveled back to Boston ahead of Tuesday’s road-trip finale against Seattle. 

“We just had our first appointment [Sunday] and we’re going to wait until we get back because there’s nothing we can do right now,” Sturm said when discussing Lindholm’s injury. “And then we’ll let our doctors decide our next steps.” 

It’s been an uneven season for Lindholm, who missed eight games earlier this year due to a lower-body injury that was unrelated to the fractured kneecap that scuttled his 2024-25 campaign. 

Since returning, the veteran has labored when skating on a second D pairing alongside Andrew Peeke, with opponents outscoring that duo, 20-8, over 328:17 of 5-on-5 reps this season. 

However, Lindholm was playing some of his best hockey of the season over the last week, especially with Jonathan Aspirot skating as his D partner. In their 50:34 of 5-on-5 minutes this season, the Bruins have outscored teams, 2-0, and held a 46-32 edge in shot attempts. 

Losing Lindholm for an extended stretch would be another blow to the Bruins, who are set to play seven games in the next 12 days. 

It will be tough to replace Lindholm’s ability to move the puck and log reps on the PK, but the Bruins are at least getting some reinforcements back in the next few days. Sturm said that D-man Henri Jokiharju could return as early as Tuesday night in Seattle — with the Finnish product out since Nov. 28 due to injury.

Sturm added that forward Tanner Jeannot could also be cleared for Tuesday’s game after missing the last four games with an undisclosed injury. 

 

Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.