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Vegas Golden Knights Report Card: Oscar Lindberg

By Andrew Steele-Davis

LAS VEGAS, NV - FEBRUARY 22: Oscar Lindberg #24 of the Vegas Golden Knights warms up prior to a game against the Winnipeg Jets at T-Mobile Arena on February 22, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by David Becker/NHLI via Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - FEBRUARY 22: Oscar Lindberg #24 of the Vegas Golden Knights warms up prior to a game against the Winnipeg Jets at T-Mobile Arena on February 22, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by David Becker/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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LAS VEGAS, NV – FEBRUARY 20: Oscar Lindberg #24 of the Vegas Golden Knights warms up prior to a game against the Boston Bruins at T-Mobile Arena on February 20, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by David Becker/NHLI via Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV – FEBRUARY 20: Oscar Lindberg #24 of the Vegas Golden Knights warms up prior to a game against the Boston Bruins at T-Mobile Arena on February 20, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by David Becker/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Oscar Lindberg began 2018-19 with the Vegas Golden Knights but ended the year with the Ottawa Senators after being part of a blockbuster trade.

Oscar Lindberg: Grade C-

Our 2018-19 Vegas Golden Knights Report Cards continue today as we turn the magnifying glass on Oscar Lindberg who, despite putting up decent numbers, found himself moved halfway through the year.

His Season

Acquired from the New York Rangers in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft, Lindberg was brought in to be a role player for the Golden Knights and he certainly lived up to that billing in 2017-18.

The two-way center posted nine goals and two assists for 11 points in 63 regular season games, while he also made three outings in the playoffs as the Knights reached the Stanley Cup Finals.

Coming into 2018-19 Lindberg was again expected to be a depth player for Vegas, logging fourth-line minutes and playing a minimal role on the penalty kill.

Spending most of the first-half of the year on a line with Ryan Carpenter and Cody Eakin, Lindberg did a solid job of being effective at both ends of the ice.

Offensively, the 27-year-old put up four goals and eight assists for 12 points in 35 NHL regular season games, also producing a plus/minus rating of +3.

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Lindberg’s defensive numbers were more impressive based on his 46.9 winning percentage in the faceoff circle, his 65 hits, 17 blocked shots and 13 takeaways.

He logged an average of 12:03 minutes of ice time a night with a 57.3 CF% and a 58.8 oZS%, which aren’t bad numbers at all for a fourth-line grinder.

All in all, Lindberg was effective for the Knights and carried out the job asked of him on a night-to-night basis.

He’s been a solid role player for the majority of his NHL career, with the odd offensive splurge, and he was on pace to potentially hit the 20 point plateau.

However, Lindberg found himself packing up his locker at the Trade Deadline as part of the deal that saw Mark Stone head to Sin City from the Ottawa Senators.

It was a move that had to be made by the Golden Knights who are right in the middle of their Stanley Cup window and, with all due respect to Lindberg, Stone will provide Vegas with more of an offensive punch.

Going back to Lindberg and his season ended with eight points (five goals, three assists) and a plus/minus rating of +1 in 20 games on a Senators team very much in transition.

But the Senators are looking to get younger and Lindberg is currently an unrestricted free agent and has yet to be picked up by a team for 2019-20.

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