Where Are They Now?: Looking At The Five Pieces Involved In The Canucks’ Elias Lindholm Trade

It’s been two years since the Vancouver Canucks acquired Elias Lindholm from the Calgary Flames in exchange for Andrei Kuzmenko, Hunter Brzustewicz, Joni Jurmo, and a 2024 first-round pick. While Lindholm departed from the Canucks organization only a few months after being acquired, some pieces acquired by the Flames have remained within their organization. Here’s a look at where all five pieces of this trade are now. 

Lindholm’s first year as a member of the Boston Bruins, who he signed with during the 2024 off-season, didn’t exactly go as planned. The centre finished the season with 17 goals and 30 assists throughout a full 82 games — not ideal considering his past offensive abilities with the Flames. However, it appears things are starting to shift for Lindholm now, as the centre has put up 11 goals and 26 assists in 44 games this season. While this point total puts him ahead of any Canucks so far this season, Lindholm is also currently playing in a first-line centre role alongside David Pastrňák and Morgan Geekie. His linemates if he were still in Vancouver would likely be much different. 

Vancouver was the first NHL team that Kuzmenko played for before he was traded to the Flames in January 2024. However, since then, the forward also made his way to the Philadelphia Flyers before finally appearing to settle down with the Los Angeles Kings. Kuzmenko played alright during his first 22 regular season games with the Kings, scoring five goals and 12 assists, but proved to the Kings why they acquired him with a three-goal, three-assist effort in six playoff games. As a result, Kuzmenko signed a one-year, $4.3M contract with Los Angeles that will make him a free-agent at the end of this season. He currently has 11 goals and 10 assists in 47 games throughout 2025–26.      

After making his NHL debut on April 17, 2025 against the Kings, it looks like Brzustewicz is getting his first look at an extended period of NHL minutes. The defenceman made his season debut for the Flames on December 10 and has stuck in Calgary’s lineup primarily since then. With Jake Bean on the IR and Zayne Parekh taking part in a conditioning stint after dealing with an injury, Brzustewicz has been playing on the Flames’ third-pairing, putting up a goal and an assist throughout 18 games. In his 23 AHL games played with the Calgary Wranglers this season, Brzustewicz has four goals and eight assists. 

Jurmo is the last player who was sent to Calgary in exchange for Lindholm. The defenceman spent one season with the Flames organization before making his return to Finland, where he currently plays for Kiekko-Espoo in Liiga. His time with the Flames was split between the Wranglers and the Rapid City Rush in the ECHL, the latter of which saw him score two goals and eight assists in 12 games. After this season, Calgary put Jurmo on unconditional waivers with the purpose of terminating his contract despite his deal carrying only one more year on it. 

The most intriguing part of Calgary’s return in the Lindholm trade may very well be the first-round pick they snagged from Vancouver during it. The pick, which ended up at 28th overall in the 2024 NHL Draft, was ultimately used by the Flames to select forward Matvei Gridin. Gridin played for the Muskegon Lumberjacks of the USHL and Shawinigan Cataractes of the QMJHL before joining the Flames organization in 2025–26. He scored his first NHL goal in his NHL debut on October 8 against the St. Louis Blues, playing in a total of four games before being sent down to the Wranglers. Calgary has since called Gridin up, with the forward having played with the team since the middle of January. 

There are pros and cons for both teams when it comes to the repercussions of this trade. On one hand, Lindholm was one of the Canucks’ top performers during their 2024 playoff run, but ultimately was with Vancouver for less than six months. Calgary has only retained two parts of this particular trade, though they acquired two big pieces to their forward core when they traded Kuzmenko. Overall, Calgary was the team to win this trade given the pieces they have managed to keep as well as those they acquired in return for those that were flipped. 

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