I think the issue with Lindholm for me is, it is not abundantly clear yet how much Lindholm drives plays or how much he is just an incredible finisher / accessory from other players that drive plays. Like more specifically, were his good years just a result of Gaudreau and Tkachuk being amazing? Could you have put just about anybody on that line with similar results, like Backlund or Kadri? To what extent is Lindholm a star player if you're intending to pay him like one?
That Dubois contract which is likely colouring the market demand, is a bad contract (IMO). But, "bad" in the sense of today's cap world and presumably the Kings anticipate that relative to a rising cap it won't be that "bad". Lindholm is better than Dubois though, so arguably the ask at $9MM is starting to be realistic. Seems relatively clear though the guy just does not really want to stay in Calgary.
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