7 fun facts about new Canucks All-Star Elias Lindholm
It’s official, the Vancouver Canucks are all in.
Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin swung a blockbuster deal for Swedish forward Elias Lindholm on Wednesday, as the Canucks get ready to push for the Stanley Cup.
The 29-year-old Lindholm will have two and a half months to get acclimated with his new team before then. In the meantime, get acclimated with the Canucks newest forward by checking out these fun facts about Lindholm.
1. His wife is more famous than him
Lindholm isn’t the only star in the household.
His partner, Annica Englund, is a DJ, music producer, influencer and reality TV star. Her reality TV career included an appearance on season six of Big Brother Sweden.
Englund has 160,000 Instagram followers, compared to only 54,700 for Lindholm.
Even an Instagram account dedicated to documenting their future mansion in Sweden probably has more followers than you.
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One thing Englund used social media for was to document her struggles with in-vitro fertilization as the couple tried to get pregnant. She apparently went through multiple miscarriages before the couple announced that they were expecting their first child in November of 2022.
Elias and wife welcomed baby Levi Lindholm in February of 2023. Their son was born five weeks premature, which had an effect on Lindholm. He said in a Swedish interview that he lost a little focus in 2022-23 after that happened, but still managed to finish second on the Flames with a respectable 64 points.
2. His dad played with Wayne Gretzky
Hockey is in Lindholm’s bloodlines. His father, Mikael Lindholm, had a professional hockey career that spanned nearly two decades.
That included a short stint in the NHL, where he played 18 games for the Los Angeles Kings during the 1989-90 season alongside Wayne Gretzky.
“He told me some stories about Wayne and doing pushups,” Lindholm said in this interview. “He didn’t do too many, but obviously he could score a lot of points.”
3. Jacob Markstrom is his childhood friend
While joining a Stanley Cup contender must be exciting, there’s likely a bittersweet feeling for Lindholm about leaving the Flames.
Aside from the fact that he spent the last five and a half seasons of his career there, he’ll also be leaving behind his longtime friend, former Canucks goalie Jacob Markstrom.
Lindholm’s cousin also plays in the NHL. No, not Boston Bruins defenceman Hampus Lindholm, whom he has no relation to, but Toronto Maple Leafs forward Calle Jarnkrok.
All three of Lindholm, Jarnkrok, and Markstrom grew up in Galve, Sweden,
They had a conversation where they talked about their upbringing in Galve, where they laughed over the tradition of a giant, hay goat often being burned illegally around Christmas time.
At one point, Lindholm, Jarnkrok, and Markstrom all played for the Flames, back in 2022.
“It’s pretty cool,” Lindholm said in this clip. “Obviously every team you go to, there’s a couple of Swedes. But doing it with two friends, best friends, it’s kind of surreal.”
4. Will wear a new jersey number with the Canucks
Lindholm has yet to win a Stanley Cup with his first two jersey numbers. Third time’s the charm?
Throughout his 11 year NHL career, Lindholm has worn either number No. 16 or No. 28. Well, neither of those numbers are available in Vancouver, with 16 retired in honour of Trevor Linden, while 28 isn’t worn out of respect to the late Luc Bourdon.
Lindholm will wear No. 23 in Vancouver.
That number was worn by Swedish Canuck greats in Alex Edler and Thomas Gradin. The last three players to wear that jersey number for the Canucks were Travis Dermott, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and Jack Studnicka.
5. Pronounces “Elias” differently than Pettersson
Lindholm will at least have some familiarity with his potential linemate, Elias Pettersson.
The two faced off against each other in a trivia match on Sportsnet, where they had to answer questions about each other.
Lindholm beat Pettersson 3-1 in the match, but one of the most interesting tidbits to come out of it was the fact that they pronounce their first names differently, even though they are spelled exactly the same.
Apparently, Lindholm goes by “Eh-lie-as” whereas Pettersson goes by “Eh-lee-us.”
Aside from their names, the two Swedes were also fifth overall picks in the NHL Draft, with Lindholm being drafted by the Hurricanes back in 2013. He also played with Pettersson on Team Sweden at the World Hockey Championships back in 2019.
6. Darryl Sutter compared him to Kopitar
While Lindholm has had a solid career as a top-six NHL forward, he was undoubtedly at his best during the 2021-22 campaign.
That was the season where he registered 42 goals and 82 points, while centring the best line in hockey with Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk. That trio helped the Flames post one of their best regular seasons in franchise history.
Because of his all-around stellar performance, Lindholm was actually runner-up for the Selke Trophy, losing out to Bruins forward, Patrice Bergeron. That was actually the third time in his career where he finished top-10 in Selke Trophy voting.
What might be more impressive than being runner-up to Bergeron is the compliment that his former head coach gave him.
“He’s one of the best all-around centremen in the NHL,” Sutter said to The Athletic. “I’ve coached some good ones but he’s as close to a (Anze) Kopitar-type player as there is. A top two-way game. He plays a great possession game — he’s like a quarterback.”
7. Became youngest ever Swede to score an NHL goal
Even though he just turned 29 years old, Lindholm has been in the league for 11 seasons.
That’s what happens when you break into the NHL immediately after you get drafted.
Lindholm actually held a record for youngest Swede to score an NHL goal, after registering his first tally at the age of 18 years and 311 days.
That broke Gabriel Landeskog’s record from October of 2011. Lindholm held that record until Rasmus Dahlin scored his first NHL goal in October of 2018.
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