The Calgary Flames begin their training camp in just a few short weeks, and as of today, forward Elias Lindholm has just a year remaining under contract. The Swedish product is a pending unrestricted free agent after this season and has yet to either sign an extension or rule it out altogether.
Lindholm spoke with Swedish journalist Ronnie Rönnkvist of Hockeysvirge in a wide-ranging conversation that was published on their site on Friday. Among the topics was his future in Calgary.
(The original piece is in Swedish, obviously, so any quotes here are via Google Translate.)
Lindholm didn’t cast blame the now-fired head coach Darryl Sutter for the season not going as planned, noting that several players including himself needed to be better. Lindholm also shared that his son was born five weeks prematurely in February and admitted he “lost a little focus.”
Lindholm referred to 2022-23 as “a bit of a half-baked season all the way,” and laid out his expectations for the club in 2023-24 fairly simply: “With a lot going wrong last season and us falling short, I expect us to be a playoff team. Everything else is not good enough. It’s the playoffs that matter.”
Regarding his potential free agency following the season, Lindholm left the door open to signing an extension: “I am willing to stay. Then my agent and Calgary take care of most of it. There is a lot we have to agree on, but I have said that I can imagine staying. After that, the agent and Calgary get to fix the rest. Then we’ll see if it works out or not.”
Head over to Hockeysvirge to check out the full interview. (Again, it’s in Swedish, so Google Translate is your friend.)