I don't think that's a fair take on what the Calgary base said. I mean, I am sure that you can find a few people - especially ones that were jaded after Tkachuk forced his way out.
The vast majority of Flames fans loved Tkachuk and saw him as a superstar. Watching the "best line in hockey", you could see that Gaudreau stirred the drink on that line. Tkachuk, however, did his fair share of stirring. Lindholm was looked upon mostly as the guy 'doing all the heavy defensive lifting'. I actually somewhat disagreed, as I saw both Tkachuk AND Gaudreau coming back on defence hard. I know I had Tkachuk pegged for many more PPG seasons in Florida. I didn't have him quite pegged at repeating the three digit mark, but that's not quite the same thing as saying he was carried. I am sure that there are many people in your own fanbase that have weird takes on players, especially when emotions are at play. Believe me, when Gaudreau left and Tkachuk forced his way out, of course people are going to be upset. Tkachuk was indeed loved in Calgary. Heck, Doughty is still booed whenever he touches the puck. If that doesn't tell you all you need to know, nothing else will. There will always be some differing opinions on players, but nobody thought Tkachuk was being carried. He hit over 70 points playing alongside Backlund on a checking line being matched up against the best players, and starting in the defensive zone almost exclusively. That's his 'worst case scenario' output.
As for Lindholm:
I wouldn't say he is the reason that the Canucks are stalling out. The Cancuks were terrible last year, and they are elite this year. Maybe the truth from both seasons was a bit more in the middle? Mabye something else is going on. Either way, Lindholm would only be imploding his own line, not the entire team. The Kadri line in Calgary was playing great, as was the Backlund line.
I just think that Gaudreau and Tkachuk really helped Lindholm get to 80+ points and 40+ goals. This doesn't mean Lindholm sucks - I mean, Lindholm did very well with Gaudreau-Monahan as well that first year, and James Neal completely neutered that Gaudreau-Monahan as both of those players had exactly zero points playing with Neal, so it isn't like 'anyone could have gotten those points'.
I would just wait and see if he bounces back. He has a lot of tools, and is sneaky strong and aggressive on checks. He has no weaknesses in his game. I can't even say he has poor IQ, as he gets to the right places. I don't know what is up with Lindholm, but he is even worse this season than he was when he took a big drop in points after Gaudreau and Tkachuk left town and he looked almost disinterested most nights. He looks visibly less interested this year, and I thought for sure he would have rebounded in Vancouver. He has all the tools to be successful. It amazes me that he isn't.
