Player Discussion Hampus Lindholm III - the Return/Revenge of the Swede?

[Henrique Iglesias]

I can see the arguments for both sides.

On one hand, the greatest ability is availability, and he does seem to miss 20-30 games every season. He's a free agent at the end of next season, he's almost certainly going to get 8 years from someone and there are valid fears he's not going to age well. And given goaltenders don't generally go for as much as expected on the trade market--even ones who are truly elite like Gibson (if he's interested and you have a good team in front of him)--he might be our best shot at acquiring a true top line forward that the team desperately needs.

On the other hand, when he is there, he's a legitimate shutdown top pairing D about to enter his age-28 season, and even with our track record of defensive development, I would argue we've never come anywhere close to finding someone as good as him in his own end. As much as I liked what I saw from a skating perspective with Fowler in the last game, I think Hampus is the perfect defender with whom to insulate Drysdale, who did seem to get pushed around by bigger top lines as the season wore on. He's immensely valuable to our penalty kill. And as @Masch78 pointed out earlier, his character and intangibles are impeccable; he's a perfect mentor for the young guys in the room. I'd absolutely hold onto him.

This is actually the first season he’s missed over 20 games. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was able to give us a lot of good years yet

 

[Magnus the Duck]

The injuries and lack of offense are frustrating but the team is visibly worse without him the lineup.

Lack of offense compared to who? He led D in points when he got injured. And that was with our great coach only playing Shattenkirk and Fowler on PP.

 

[Arthuros]

Lack of offense compared to who? He led D in points when he got injured.

I think it's mostly in comparison to his earlier years where he looked like he could put up 40 points a year.

 

[Magnus the Duck]

I think it's mostly in comparison to his earlier years where he looked like he could put up 40 points a year.

Doesn't really matter, our whole team lacks offense. It's a remark without meaning. It's like saying we lack offense from Gibson.

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

Doesn't really matter, our whole team lacks offense. It's a remark without meaning. It's like saying we lack offense from Gibson.

Now that you mention it...

 

[Paul4587]

I think it's mostly in comparison to his earlier years where he looked like he could put up 40 points a year.

I still think he could on a good offensive team if he gets 2nd PP unit time. His goal scoring most years has always been good, it’s the assist totals that need to go up which should happen if/when the team gets better offensively.

 

[Paul4587]

I’d be comfortable giving him something like Fowler’s deal, much more impactful player

That takes him to 36 years old. Right now he’s not even getting close to getting through full seasons, that contract would end up an absolute disaster.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

That takes him to 36 years old. Right now he’s not even getting close to getting through full seasons, that contract would end up an absolute disaster.

I can’t imagine he does anything less than 7 years....

Maybe he does 5 or 6 years of money is raised

 

[Paul4587]

I can’t imagine he does anything less than 7 years....

Maybe he does 5 or 6 years of money is raised

I love Hampus, he’s my second favorite Duck behind Getzy but if he wants 7 years then he needs to be moved. I would go 4-5 max and raise the AAV a bit to counter him not getting term.

I just think it’s going to end up being a disaster signing an injury prone player to an 8 year deal that takes him through to 36 years old. I hate the Fowler deal enough and that only goes until he’s 34.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

I love Hampus, he’s my second favorite Duck behind Getzy but if he wants 7 years then he needs to be moved. I would go 4-5 max and raise the AAV a bit to counter him not getting term.

I just think it’s going to end up being a disaster signing an injury prone player to an 8 year deal that takes him through to 36 years old. I hate the Fowler deal enough and that only goes until he’s 34.

What would the price be ?

5 year 35- 37.5?
I get your point and agree somewhat but he’ll get more than 6.5 with less than 7 years

 

[Paul4587]

What would the price be ?

5 year 35- 37.5?
I get your point and agree somewhat but he’ll get more than 6.5 with less than 7 years

I would go 7.5 per over 4, maybe 7.25 over 5. It’s hard to gauge exactly his value as there aren’t a lot of comparables who signed at the same age around the league who didn’t sign for close to max term. There will be a lot of comparables coming up for renewals though, hopefully some sign extensions early in the off-season to give a bit more of an idea of his value.

 

[Frosted Tips]

I know he's had his share of injuries but I was actually surprised how little games he has ended up missing. Before this season he has only missed roughly 7 regular season games on average per season and only a couple of PO games in total.

 

[The Duck Knight]

Unless he's giving the Ducks a discount he's going to get a 7x7 from someone. We're just going to have to decide if that is worth it.

 

[DavidBL]

Of our existing top 4 D he is the youngest and best. I really don't think there is much debate. Unless his ask is astronomical then you resign him.

 

[bsu]

Hampus Lindholm on contract talks with the Ducks, staying healthy and the Olympics: 'This is a really big year' – The Athletic

Would you like to re-sign with the Ducks?

That’s something I don’t even think about right now. Whenever I get close to even considering it and I feel like it’s something that’s worth considering, then I’ll think about that. But right now, I just try to focus on my game. I have a lot of good stuff going in my life right now. I just try to enjoy every day. Be present. Control what I can control and that’s just what I can do on the ice.

 

[bsu]

EDIT: Oops.

 

[Elvs]

I really like Lindholm, but as I'm being realistic I think the chances of re-signing him are slim to none. The guy will be 28 as he hits free agency next summer. He should be chasing cups. Even if he wouldn't care about winning, several other teams, that are currently in contention mode, should be more willing to throw money at him. The only chance I see him staying, is if he absolutely loves living in Anaheim, or if the team somehow makes the playoffs or are at least close of making the playoffs, with the kids being further ahead in their development than expected.

 

[DavidBL]

I really like Lindholm, but as I'm being realistic I think the chances of re-signing him are slim to none. The guy will be 28 as he hits free agency next summer. He should be chasing cups. Even if he wouldn't care about winning, several other teams, that are currently in contention mode, should be more willing to throw money at him. The only chance I see him staying, is if he absolutely loves living in Anaheim, or if the team somehow makes the playoffs or are at least close of making the playoffs, with the kids being further ahead in their development than expected.

I think he's going to wait and see how the season starts. If we get to the new year and there's no growth my expectation is he is traded. That quote above sounded very much like he's not interested with the current team as it is.

 

[bsu]

That interview did not make me feel more comfortable about Lindholm re-signing.

 

[McDonald19]

That interview did not make me feel more comfortable about Lindholm re-signing.

Agreed. Sounds like he wants to wait and see how the season goes and potentially test the market next summer. I don’t blame him. It’s a once a career opportunity to cash in with a big contract from a cup contender.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Hampus Lindholm on contract talks with the Ducks, staying healthy and the Olympics: 'This is a really big year' – The Athletic

Would you like to re-sign with the Ducks?

That’s something I don’t even think about right now. Whenever I get close to even considering it and I feel like it’s something that’s worth considering, then I’ll think about that. But right now, I just try to focus on my game. I have a lot of good stuff going in my life right now. I just try to enjoy every day. Be present. Control what I can control and that’s just what I can do on the ice.

Lindholm's interview and Gibby's interview run similar such that they both talk about only being able to control what they can control and need the team to step up. There isn't negativity in the article; it's just talking what is. As for contract stuff, it's good for Lindholm to keep a poker face, but he also dropped some hints that might be a factor in re-signing in being best friends with Rakell along with telling Stephens that Manson and himself are considered core pieces.

I want to focus on the latter. After two seasons of missing huge chunks of playing time for both Lindholm and Manson, Lindholm identifies that they're both core pieces. And when they both go down, then there's a huge impact to the team because the team cannot hold the opposing team's scoring down. During the off-season, I ran excel charts of missing Lindholm, missing Manson, and missing Lindholm with Manson. What I saw out of that exercise was the team was a sieve without both.

First 33 games of 2020-21

2020-21
First 33 games
Item	Games	W	L	OTL	Pts	.	GF	GA	GD		GF/GP	GA/GP	Diff
Total	33	9	18	6	24	.	72	112	-40		2.18	3.39	-1.21
W/o Lindholm	15	3	9	3	9	.	37	64	-27		2.47	4.27	-1.80
w/ Lindholm	18	6	9	3	15	.	35	48	-13		1.94	2.67	-0.72

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Lindholm makes a huge difference when he's on the ice. Manson was only able to play 2 games and less than 1 period with Lindholm, the first three games of the season.

Now, let's look at those 15 games without Lindholm on the ice as Manson did play a few games in that set.

2020-21
First 33 games
Exclude Manson	return	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
Item	Games	W	L	OTL	Pts	.	GF	GA	GD		GF/GP	GA/GP	Diff
W/O Lindholm	15	3	9	3	9	.	37	64	-27		2.47	4.27	-1.80
W/o L, M in	4	2	1	1	5	.	14	14	0		3.50	3.50	0.00
No L + M	11	1	8	2	4	.	23	50	-27		2.09	4.55	-2.45

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Here, we see Manson making a significant difference when he's on the ice. Without Lindholm and Manson, there really isn't a defense to talk about.​

​

I would be pushing to re-sign both Lindholm and Manson because we don't have any defensive defensemen of their ilk readily available to the Ducks within a year or three or more.

 

[MMC]

Gotta think if Lindholm is healthy this season he easily gets 7 years, 6-7 million+ from a contender in the offseason. Not sure I'd do that.

 

[bsu]

Gotta think if Lindholm is healthy this season he easily gets 7 years, 6-7 million+ from a contender in the offseason. Not sure I'd do that.

I would, he's our best and most impactful player on the entire team. Yeah he has had injuries but IMO most of them were just bad luck. He trains his ass off in the off season every off season.

 

[Arthuros]

When you stick to boilerplate "I'm not thinking about it" language, it doesn't exactly reassure me.

 

[Arthuros]

Gotta think if Lindholm is healthy this season he easily gets 7 years, 6-7 million+ from a contender in the offseason. Not sure I'd do that.

That Seth Jones contract is throwing off everything. If Lindholm is healthy he could be pushing 8M, while 6 to 7M sounds more like what he'd get if he plays maybe 50 games this season.