Will Lindholm bounce back ?

[NotOpie]

Couple of things....Lindholm's shooting % dropped to below 7% from 10% the season before and 12% the season before that. Shooting % is typically a mix of 2 or 3 things: bad shooting position, bad linemate passing, and/or bad luck. If he can get back to near his previous level then we're less likely to be having this conversation. Also, he should be taking more shots in general as that is what should be or will be expected of him. Finally, Lindy's production didn't really jump much, but, he seemed much more engaged in the games once he started killing penalties. He was pretty good at it too. To me, the key issue was confidence. Early in the season, he lost the puck, made errant passes, and shot wide and high a lot. For a while his whole play became tentative. The last 20 games or so, that seemed to shift a bit.

 

[Francis10]

Had a rough year but still think he will be a good player. Has 2nd most points from all players drafted in his draft year. He's more going to be a solid all around player than a pure sniper. Nothing wrong with that.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Couple of things....Lindholm's shooting % dropped to below 7% from 10% the season before and 12% the season before that. Shooting % is typically a mix of 2 or 3 things: bad shooting position, bad linemate passing, and/or bad luck. If he can get back to near his previous level then we're less likely to be having this conversation. Also, he should be taking more shots in general as that is what should be or will be expected of him. Finally, Lindy's production didn't really jump much, but, he seemed much more engaged in the games once he started killing penalties. He was pretty good at it too. To me, the key issue was confidence. Early in the season, he lost the puck, made errant passes, and shot wide and high a lot. For a while his whole play became tentative. The last 20 games or so, that seemed to shift a bit.

Part of that SH% could be that as each year progressed, he saw tougher and tougher competition and less offensive zone starts. He was very sheltered his first season but this season was primarily on E. Staal's or J. Staal's lines.

He had the same number of shots this year vs. last year. I don't know how to do it, but it would be interesting if someone could also look at where his shots came from last year vs. this year. Did his % go down because he was taking more shots from "less dangerous" areas? I realize that doesn't take into account a whole bunch of other factors that make a shot a scoring chance, but would be interesting to see if there is a difference.

 

[NotOpie]

The Hurricanes finished 10th with the teams total points at 441. The Red Wings squeaked into the 8th spot and had 549 total points, Islanders (5th) had 602, and the Capitals (1st) 662. So, my point is we need Lindholm to be a 70 point player next season.

I more reflective stat here is that the Hurricanes were 27th in total goals for with 196. League average was 222. Also of note is that we improved our goal scoring from 183 to 196 year over year and the league average moved down from 224 to 222 (from 2014-15 to 2015-16).

Part of that SH% could be that as each year progressed, he saw tougher and tougher competition and less offensive zone starts. He was very sheltered his first season but this season was primarily on E. Staal's or J. Staal's lines.

He had the same number of shots this year vs. last year. I don't know how to do it, but it would be interesting if someone could also look at where his shots came from last year vs. this year. Did his % go down because he was taking more shots from "less dangerous" areas? I realize that doesn't take into account a whole bunch of other factors that make a shot a scoring chance, but would be interesting to see if there is a difference.

I looked at this a while back with Jeff Skinner on sportingcharts.com but Lindholm's 2015-16 charts appear to be incomplete (only has him scoring 4 goals and taking 85 shots this past season). He had 11 and 176. What is almost always the case (was with Skinner). What I found with Jeff was that he was using a non-preferred shot (slpapper vs. writster) more and he was shooting from greater distance. The eye test tells me that ws the case with Lindholm, hence his lower shooting %. How much of that was due to defensemen focusing more on him is unknown. I'd say part of it is indeed attributable to him getting less sheltered.

 

[DaleCooper]

Had a rough year but still think he will be a good player. Has 2nd most points from all players drafted in his draft year. He's more going to be a solid all around player than a pure sniper. Nothing wrong with that.

4th, isn't? Looks like MacKinnon, Barkov, and Monahan have more. Still not bad though.

 

[Zezima]

I'd like to see one out of these two scenarios happen for Lindholm this year.

Path A) Breaks out and has a 50+ point year. Proves himself as a top line forward capable of scoring big, important points. Could be at C or wing, which I think it might be more likely wing, Lindholm now fills in some desperately needed scoring depth.

Path B) Becomes a true 3C. After Sutter's departure the 3C has been a void for this club. If Lindholm could step up and show extra defensive capabilities & add a bit of grit to his game while mastering the center ice position he'd be a great fit.


Both scoring top 6er and 3C are two holes that need to be filled, so like I said I'd be happy with either path. Honestly would be happier if he went down path A just based on the success of guys he was drafted around and our severe need of offense, but the luxury of having a quality 3C should not be underestimated. Either way, this is the year for Lindholm to take a step and define himself as a player...at the end of 2016-2017, he'll be right around 300 NHL GP.