ST. PAUL, Minn. >> The start of Hampus Lindholm’s fourth season with the Ducks was far from ideal, but the way it is going now might be.
Challenging contract negotiations and a holdout had Lindholm making up ground from the very beginning and an injury soon after he got back in action left him operating efficiently but not at peak performance. The good thing for the Ducks is the defenseman feels his best days lay directly ahead.
Lindholm is giving the Ducks what they want. A fixture on their blue line that’s eating 20-to-22 minutes — and at times up to 25 — as their best pure defender and a player that’s eager to take on a more meaty role as a potential leader.
The first month of the season was lost amid the contract struggles but the Ducks fought to reel him in for six more years at a pricey cost of $31.5 million. In the end, the fight was worth it.
“It was a unique year for him right from the start,” Ducks assistant coach Trent Yawney said. “I think that he had been playing catch-up maybe up until a few weeks ago. And now I think he’s on. The All-Star break kind of helped get him closer to normal.”
Yawney feels that Lindholm is playing his best hockey he’s seen on the defensive side of the puck since the Swede came over to North America to play in the American Hockey League after the Ducks took him with the sixth pick of the 2012 draft.
And there is the sense that the Ducks want to further unleash Lindholm after years of making sure that he was covered, particularly when Francois Beauchemin was his partner. Yawney has now paired him with rookie Brandon Montour and Lindholm welcomes that after playing all season with Josh Manson.
“I don’t mind that,” Lindholm said Tuesday. “I felt like I’ve done that before too. Second year when Beauch got hurt, I had to play with a (couple guys) older than me but they were new in the league.
“So I feel I had that role before.
“It’s nothing that bothers me. I like that job. Playing with new players, it makes me develop new stuff. I have to kind of read off that guy and kind of develop my game that way, with a new environment. I don’t mind that.”
From the moment he held out until signing his new contract on Oct. 27, Lindholm knew that this would be a different season. There would be no training camp to fully prepare for the grind as in previous years. He would have to hit the ground running.
Lindholm’s offensive numbers have lagged behind his defense. He’s capable of putting up more than the five goals and eight assists he has in 45 games. What hasn’t been known is a wrist injury that he’s been dealing with since his third game, Nov. 12 against Nashville.
It affected his shooting most of all. But the wrist has improved and has Lindholm encouraged about tapping more into his offense that, at times, can go unrealized.
“For me, it’s about playing good defensively and I think I’ve been doing that all the time,” Lindholm said. “At the start, I had a couple bumps and bruises that kind of held me back a little bit so I just had to focus more on defense because I couldn’t expect myself to do as much on offense.
“Now the whole body is starting to feel good again and I can just play the way I want to play. I can play hard and strong. Make it real hard and tough on guys. And shooting the puck more.”
Kase study
Ondrej Kase was back in the lineup Tuesday but how long he’ll stick there is more of a question now with the rookie winger.
Kase had been a part of the team’s third forward line for over two months but he’s been scratched twice in a six-game span and hasn’t had a point since Jan. 19. The early spark that he provided has faded but Ducks coach Randy Carlyle isn’t worried and sought to add some perspective.
“I think with him, it’s about puck possession,” Carlyle said. “Making plays. Kind of a little Energizer bunny-type of player that you’re never quitting on anything. It’s been a big step for him. You have to understand the player has only played (25) American League hockey games last year and now we’re stepping him in and playing in a top-nine role in the NHL. It’s not an easy feat for a young guy to step in.
“There’s a learning curve and I think the excitement of the first 10 or 15 games, a lot of positives went well for him. So he hit a flat spot. But we have all the confidence in the world because he’s a young kid that’s got skill. He works hard and never cheats you on the work ethic.”
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