After missing nine days of camp with an undisclosed injury, Elias Lindholm is now racing the clock to be ready for opening night.
The Bruins’ prized free agent returned to practice on Sunday morning in a noncontact jersey and returned to his projected spot between David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha on Boston’s top line.
“It’s been tough not to get in with the guys, especially as a new guy to get used to the system and everything,” said Lindholm, who signed a 7-year, $7.75 million contract during the offseason. “It’s been frustrating, but it’s good to be back. Try to get some good practices and games in here before Game 1.”
Complicating matters, albeit happily, was that Lindholm’s wife Annica gave birth to their second child, a son named Luka, last week.
“We knew it was coming soon, but it was a couple weeks early. But everyone is good so we’re happy,” he said smiling.
Lindholm is returning for a busy week. The Bruins have three exhibition games — Tuesday vs. the Flyers at TD Garden, Thursday vs. the Kings in Quebec City and Saturday at Washington — before opening on Oct. 8 at Florida.
“I learn through reps out there. I tried to make the best out of it and try to stay positive. I’m happy to be back,” said Lindholm, who is trying to condense both his system acclimation and conditioning into a small window. “The system is kind of similar to what I’ve been used to, but there are definitely some new things and the conditioning, I haven’t been skating too much, haven’t done too much.”
Jim Montogmery saw both Lindholm’s promise and his rust.
“It was good to see him. He’s making finishing plays. He’s killing plays in the D-Zone. You can see his hockey sense. His smarts,” he said. “The bad thing is. He’s not up to speed yet. That’s why he’s good he’s back to practice and starting to get reps.”
