June 5: Lindstrom confirmed to Portzline he’ll play for the Spartans next season (article link). Lindstrom returned to play four games for Medicine Hat in the WHL finals en route to a championship, recording two goals and two assists, but went pointless in three Memorial Cup games for the Tigers.
March 29: Things haven’t gone as planned for Blue Jackets prospect Cayden Lindstrom this season. Felled by a back injury dating back to before the draft last year, he has yet to suit up in 2024-25 and isn’t expected to. But instead of remaining with WHL Medicine Hat for 2025-26, it appears he’ll be on the move, as Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that Lindstrom is likely to play at Michigan State next season.
Lindstrom was the fourth overall pick back in June and while many high draft picks sign their entry-level deals in the days and weeks after that, he was a notable exception. As a result, he remains eligible to play in the NCAA next season.
It’s a decision that might seem a bit surprising at first, but given his injury history, it does make some sense. Major junior teams play 68 games per season and after missing all of this year, more game volume might seem like the way to go. Meanwhile, the NCAA regular season is only 34 games long which will allow Lindstrom more time for off-ice workouts and time with the training staff to try to limit or prevent any possible recurrence of this back trouble.
Last season, Lindstrom played well in limited duty, notching 27 goals and 19 assists in just 32 games for the Tigers which helped make him one of the first players off the board despite the injury concerns. While that’s not necessarily enough to say that he has nothing left to prove at that level, that type of dominance suggests that he might be better suited playing against older competition which he’ll get at MSU should he officially join them. He can’t do so until at least August 1st.
Portzline notes that several other schools, including Ohio State, also pursued Lindstrom’s services. Columbus likely would have preferred that he landed there to keep him closer to the team but instead, Lindstrom will join a Spartans program that had eight NHL-drafted prospects on it this season, some of which could soon be making the jump to the pros.