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Cayden Lindstrom

Blue Jackets’ Cayden Lindstrom Commits To Michigan State

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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.

Metropolitan Notes: Jankowski, Lindstrom, Lindberg, Karpa

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Although Hurricanes center Mark Jankowski skated again today, team reporters Walt Ruff and Peter Dewar relay that Jankowski is listed as doubtful for tonight’s third game against Washington.  Head coach Rod Brind’Amour indicated yesterday that the 30-year-old is close to returning so he shouldn’t be out for too much longer.  Jankowski suffered an undisclosed injury in the opening game of the series.  Acquired at the trade deadline from Nashville, he wound up providing them with some quality depth scoring as he had eight goals in just 19 games following the swap while he has an assist in three playoff contests so far.

More from the Metropolitan:

  • Friday was a big night for Blue Jackets prospect Cayden Lindstrom as the 2024 fourth-overall selection made his 2024-25 debut in the WHL Final, recording an assist in the first minute of the game. Aaron Portzline of The Athletic notes (Twitter link) that he spent most of his rehab with Columbus, skating with them from February through early April before returning to Medicine Hat to work with his junior club.  After missing the entirety of the season until yesterday due to back surgery, Lindstrom wound up going 399 days between games.
  • Penguins RFA goaltender Filip Lindberg has signed a one-year deal with Assat in Finland, per a team release. The 26-year-old spent two seasons in Pittsburgh’s system with AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton before opting to return home in 2023.  This season, Lindberg split time between HFK and Tappara, putting up a 2.43 GAA and a .908 SV% in 26 regular season games.  The Penguins will hold his rights until June 30, 2026.
  • The Rangers’ farm team in Hartford recently announced the signing of center Zakary Karpa to a one-year deal for next season. The 23-year-old spent the last four years at Harvard but production was hard to come by.  Karpa played in 33 games this season for the Crimson, collecting a goal and six assists.  In 117 games over his four-year collegiate career, he had 16 goals and 19 assists.

Blue Jackets Prospect Cayden Lindstrom Could Miss 2024-25 Season

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The Columbus Blue Jackets have received more bad news on top prospect Cayden Lindstrom’s recovery from an offseason back injury. Lindstrom underwent surgery in November and has been working his way back to full health ever since. He took a major step forward last week when he returned to the ice in full gear for the first time in over two months. But his return may have come a bit too late, and Lindstrom is still running the risk of missing the entirety of the 2024-25 season per Aaron Portzline of The Athletic.

Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell told Portzline that Lindstrom is in stage three of a five-stage rehab process, and could move to stage four – no-contact skating – after seeing a doctor next week. But Lindstrom would need at least three weeks of no-contact skates before he’d be cleared for full practices, pushing his potential return to late March or early April, at best. Waddell closed by sharing that Lindstrom will continue skating with Blue Jackets coaches, rather than returning to rehab with his WHL club, the Medicine Hat Tigers.

Lindstrom was a hotly contested draft pick last season. He was one of many in the mix for the top-five picks and ultimately landed at fourth overall, becoming Don Waddell’s first draft pick as Columbus’ GM. It was a closely scrutinized decision, amplified by Lindstrom effectively missing the last four months of the 2023-24 season due to a hand and back injury, though he did return for four games between late March and early April.

Despite spotty starts, Lindstrom was a force in the WHL last season. He finished the year with 27 goals, 19 assists, and 66 penalty minutes in 32 games. Those points largely came from just how well the six-foot-four, 214-pound Lindstrom controlled the high slot – with a knack for quick plays and a hard shot making him a dynamic and physical scoring threat. Lindstrom was on a 14-game point streak – racking up 23 points – when he suffered his first injury of the year in December.

The promise of red-hot scoring will make Lindstrom hard to ignore whenever he does manage to return. His agent, Daren Hermiston, told Portzline that the top prospect has been finding other ways to hone his technical abilities while rehabbing, including looking into virtual-reality training similar to top, young NFL quarterback Jayden Daniels. Portzline also shared that there’s been plenty of collegiate interest in Lindstrom, even despite the missed games, and that the local Ohio State University is one of many schools trying to recruit him. Those rumors will train a warm spotlight onto Lindstrom when he’s back to full health, but his status as a top-five draft pick should be enough to carry him back to high acclaim.

Metro Notes: Frost, Flyers, Jiricek, Lindstrom

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Morgan Frost has had a tumultuous position in the Philadelphia Flyers’ lineup since John Tortorella took over as the team’s head coach in the 2022-23 season. He’s been a healthy scratch in three of the last four games, and this is coming one year after being a healthy scratch in half of the team’s first 20 contests last year. In an article (Subscription Article) in The Athletic, Kevin Kurz opines the Flyers could be headed for a breakup of sorts with Frost before his current contract ends.

There’s no questioning his skill on the offensive side of the puck. Frost scored 10 goals and 33 points over the last 50 games of the 2023-24 season finishing fifth on the team in scoring despite his time in the press box earlier in the year. That’s not enough for Tortorella to overlook his defensive shortcomings, as he typically expects much better two-way play from his centers.

Frost’s two-year, $4.2MM extension expires after this season and he’ll only have one more year remaining until he can hit unrestricted free agency. Kurz believes Philadelphia should trade Frost by the deadline despite selling low on the former-27th overall pick of the 2017 NHL Draft.

Other Metro notes:

  • Continuing in Philadelphia, the organization announced multiple injury updates earlier today. Notably, defenseman Cam York won’t return to the lineup this evening despite being a full participant in practice on Monday. Defenseman Jamie Drysdale and netminder Samuel Ersson remain on the injured reserve with their injuries while defenseman Emil Andrae is considered day-to-day with a mid-body injury.
  • This morning, the Columbus Blue Jackets surprised many by reassigning defenseman David Jiříček to their AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters. Shortly after, Aaron Portzline of The Athletic wrote a scathing article (Subscription Article) on Columbus’ handling of the sixth overall pick of the 2022 NHL Draft. Jiříček has rarely had a consistent role with the Blue Jackets despite the team carrying a subpar defensive core and has little else to prove in the AHL after scoring 13 goals and 57 points in 84 career games.
  • Sticking in Columbus, Portzline reported that the team’s first pick of the 2024 NHL Draft, Cayden Lindstrom, underwent a minor surgical procedure this morning. Lindstrom hasn’t played at all this season with the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers due to a back injury, and today’s surgical procedure was a part of the recovery process. He was recently drafted with the fourth overall pick of this past summer’s draft after scoring 27 goals and 46 points in 32 games for the Tigers.

Cayden Lindstrom Ruled Out For Rookie Camp, Still Recovering From Back Injury

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Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell said last week that star center prospect Cayden Lindstrom was unlikely to suit up in next month’s NHL Prospects Challenge in Buffalo. Speaking to Aaron Portzline of The Athletic, Waddell confirmed Lindstrom won’t participate in the event and won’t be fully cleared at the beginning of training camp as he recovers from a disc herniation that cost him much of his draft year.

The back issue shouldn’t plague Lindstrom deep into the regular season. Waddell and Lindstrom’s agent, Wasserman Hockey’s Daren Hermiston, “agreed that he’s getting close to a return,” Portzline said. There’s a distinct air of caution in how the Blue Jackets choose to handle Lindstrom’s return to full contact, prioritizing the long-term help of a player they hope can be a top-six answer down the middle for years to come.

Lindstrom, 18, played only 36 total games with the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western Hockey League last season. His regular season ended in mid-December, and he battled through the injury to play four postseason games. But when he was in the lineup, the British Columbia native showed why he was one of the most unique talents in this summer’s draft. He was the Tigers’ best pure sniper with 27 goals in 32 regular-season contests, and his 1.44 points per game were tied for second on the team behind projected 2026 first-overall selection Gavin McKenna (1.59). The pivot has NHL-ready size at 6’3″ and 214 lbs and is involved physically, sometimes crossing the line, as evidenced by his 66 PIMs.

Recurring back problems could be debilitating for a player who thrives on Lindstrom’s type of style, so it’s no surprise that Columbus won’t give him a full clearance until he’s truly 100%. “Before we drafted him, we had all of the MRIs, all the tests, and everything else from his agents and doctors,” Waddell told Portzline. “This is something he’s going to get better from, but we want to be really careful with it. I’ve said all along we’re going to slow-play this one. I’m going to be the conservative one here.”

The injury does, however, likely remove any slim chances he had of making the NHL roster out of camp. Waddell, entering his first year in Columbus after six years as GM of the Hurricanes, is no stranger to letting prospects overbake, so it was always likely Lindstrom would spend all of 2024-25 back in Medicine Hat. Giving him a nine-game trial of NHL action without a whole training camp to work up to it certainly goes against the “conservative” ethos Waddell describes.

Lindstrom, who the Blue Jackets selected No. 4 overall in June, is the only member of the top four yet to sign his entry-level contract. But that delay isn’t related to his injury, Waddell said. He told Portzline that he’s “assuming we’ll sign him in training camp” after saying this to Hermiston earlier this summer.

Blue Jackets Notes: Laine, Sillinger, Lindstrom, Tryouts

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While the Blue Jackets have taken care of most of their offseason business, there are a couple of matters for them to still attend to.  The biggest one is the Patrik Laine situation.  The winger has made it known that he would like to be traded and has been cleared from the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program.  However, GM Don Waddell indicated in an interview with Mark Scheig of The Hockey Writers that they are not particularly close to finding a change of scenery for him:

Well, he’s still a Blue Jacket today and as we speak, I don’t have anything (newsworthy of) interest, but nothing that I had to make a decision on yet. Just some teams do their homework and trying to talk with Patrick and his agent and he thought about giving full permission to talk to teams. So, but as we are talking, I don’t have anything that on the table that would even make any sense for the Blue Jackets to make that deal.

The 26-year-old was limited to just 18 games last season where he had six goals and three assists before being shut down due to shoulder surgery in December; he entered the assistance program just over a month later.  For someone who has a cap hit of $8.7MM, that’s far from a great return.

However, Laine has a track record of being a productive scorer.  He has three 30-goal campaigns under his belt and three more of at least 22, two of which came in 2021-22 and 2022-23, seasons where he missed at least 26 games due to injury.  With that in mind, there is some recent success which should be of some value for interested teams.  But until they can make the money work (either with Columbus retaining money, taking a pricey contract back, or both), it doesn’t look like this is going to come to a quick resolution.

One element that might be resolved quickly, however, is Cole Sillinger’s next contract.  A report from The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline surfaced a little more than a week ago that the two sides were close on a new deal.  That still hasn’t been made official yet but Waddell acknowledged that an agreement is nearly done:

Yeah, we’re real close. His agent has been very, there’s been lots of talks going on, all very positive talks. We’re all within the striking distance. It’s just a matter of they have a position, we have a position and there’s no doubt in my mind it’ll get worked out.

The 21-year-old was the 12th overall pick in 2021 and made the jump to the NHL right away, notching 31 points in his rookie year before struggling considerably in his sophomore season.  However, Sillinger was able to rebound somewhat last season, notching 13 goals and 19 assists in 77 games while logging over 16 minutes a night of ice time.  That said, this appears to be a situation where a short-term second contract makes sense for both sides to better assess what Sillinger’s true offensive upside will be.

Meanwhile, Waddell provided an injury update on prospect Cayden Lindstrom.  The Blue Jackets drafted the middleman with the number four pick in June following a strong, albeit injury-riddled, WHL season with Medicine Hat where he had 27 goals and 19 assists in just 32 games.  Lindstrom has been working his way back from a back injury but has not yet been cleared to resume skating.  Accordingly, the GM suggested that he might not participate in next month’s rookie tournament unless he is deemed fully recovered at that time.

Lastly, Waddell didn’t rule out the possibility of giving out one or two tryout agreements in the coming weeks.  However, he noted that his preference is to have smaller groups for training camps and with an overhaul of the coaching staff, having the smaller group makes more sense this time around.  That said, with eight exhibition games in an 11-day stretch, having a veteran or two to help meet the minimum quota probably wouldn’t hurt.

East Notes: Dubas, Trouba, Lindstrom, Spicer

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In a new book by Craig Custance of The Athletic, an interview with the general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Kyle Dubas, was able to reflect on his time at the helm of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun pulled a quote from the interview where Dubas said, “The biggest mistake I think I’ve made in my whole time here has been not taking care of the three incumbent contracts. (William) Nylander was up, (Mitch) Marner and (Auston) Matthews could have been done on July 1 extensions“.

The quote was made in context to the seven-year, $77MM contract given to John Tavares on July 1st, 2018. Dubas exclaims that by giving Tavares an AAV of $11MM without first working on long-term extensions for William Nylander, Mitch Marner, and Auston Matthews, the price on the latter three was raised dramatically and caused both Nylander and Marner to hold out for a short time.

Aside from the externality on those three players from Tavares’ contract, Dubas informed Custance that he had no other regrets from his time in Toronto. Outside of playoff success, the Maple Leafs have achieved multiple 100-point seasons from the team Dubas built and still features some of the biggest stars in the game.

Other East notes:

  • In a report from Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News and later confirmed by Emily Kaplan of ESPN, there was a trade in place between the New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings that would have sent defenseman Jacob Trouba to his hometown team. However, with Trouba’s no-movement clause turning into a modified no-trade clause on July 1st, Trouba added Detroit to his list which entirely ended the deal. Trouba was hesitant to move his wife and family out of New York as his wife is finishing up her residency as a medical doctor as outlined in the report from Kaplan.
  • The fourth-overall pick of the 2024 NHL Draft, Cayden Lindstrom, is now the highest-selected player from the recent draft who has not signed his entry-level contract. Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports there is no cause for concern, as the general manager of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Don Waddell, is entirely focused on hiring a new head coach for the franchise. The Blue Jackets still have plenty of time to sign Lindstrom to an entry-level contract which theoretically doesn’t need to be done this offseason. The young power forward will likely return to the WHL next season to continue his development.
  • Matt Wellens of Duluth News Tribune reports that Boston Bruins’ prospect, Cole Spicer, is done playing hockey for the foreseeable future. Spicer was the 117th overall selection of the 2022 NHL Draft and recently wrapped up his sophomore campaign with the University of Minnesota-Duluth where he scored five goals and nine points in 17 games. According to the report from Wellens, Spicer is planning on taking some time to deal with ’personal and mental stuff’ before fully committing himself to a career in hockey.

Blue Jackets Select Cayden Lindstrom Fourth Overall

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The Blue Jackets have taken center Cayden Lindstrom with the fourth overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. In just two years the Blue Jackets have selected their 1-2 combo at the center position at the top of the draft.

Lindstrom is a prototypical center who can score goals and use his size to his advantage. With a high motor and his ability to work in the corners, Columbus will not have any complaints about Lindstrom being their second-line center for the foreseeable future. In the WHL this season, Lindstrom scored 27 goals and 46 points in 32 games while scoring 46 goals and 88 points in 99 total games in the major junior league.

With a glut of forwards already on the roster at the NHL level, Lindstrom may be a prime choice to spend another year in the WHL to expand on his skills. Nevertheless, given that his body is already NHL-ready, the Blue Jackets may be bullish enough on the selection to have him crack the roster as soon as next season.

It was always going to be difficult for Columbus to make a bad selection at fourth overall since the team could use talent at nearly every position. In Lidstrom, the team maximized their selection in the top five by adding a top-notch heavy sniper.

San Jose Sharks Win 2024 NHL Draft Lottery

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The 2024 NHL Draft Lottery has finally rolled around, giving solace to the 16 teams that missed out on the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The San Jose Sharks and Chicago Blackhawks lead the odds race, with the Sharks boasting a hardy 18.5 percent chance of winning the first-overall pick. The list of runner-ups is rounded out by fringe playoff contenders in the St. Louis Blues and Detroit Red Wings, who share 0.5 percent odds at the top slot.

The 2024 NHL Draft is certainly one to be excited for. It features strong talent throughout the first round, including hotly-debated talents like Finnish standout pro Konsta Helenius and Russian big man Anton Silayev. It’s a contentious draft that kicks off a string of strong classes, with James Hagens and Gavin McKenna headlining the next two drafts.

This year’s deciding order is as follows:

1. San Jose Sharks
2. Chicago Blackhawks
3. Anaheim Ducks
4. Columbus Blue Jackets
5. Montreal Canadiens
6. Utah Hockey Club
7. Ottawa Senators
8. Seattle Kraken
9. Calgary Flames
10. New Jersey Devils
11. Buffalo Sabres
12. Philadelphia Flyers
13. Minnesota Wild
14. San Jose Sharks (via Pittsburgh Penguins)
15. Detroit Red Wings
16. St. Louis Blues

The Sharks have officially won the race for superstar prospect Macklin Celebrini – the consensus top prospect in the 2024 NHL Draft. Celebrini recently became the youngest player to win the Hobey Baker Award as college’s MVP, adding to a trophy case that’s incredibly full for his age. He’s a dynamic and incredibly intelligent centerman capable of finding and making plays in all three zones.

Meanwhile, the Blackhawks, Ducks, and Blue Jackets will be left to sift through a rich list of top defense prospects, including Artyom Levshunov, Sam Dickinson, Zeev Buium, and Zayne Parekh. Forwards like Cole Eiserman or Cayden Lindstrom could fight their way into the top spots as well, giving teams plenty of options with their lottery winnings.

Evening Notes: Barkov, Fleury, Lindstrom

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Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice shared that Aleksander Barkov had a lower-body injury that tightened up on him in the third period, leading to Maurice benching the top centerman for the rest of the game. The injury has been labeled as minor but it is expected to hold Barkov out of the team’s Wednesday night game as well.

Barkov is having yet another productive season, ranked second on the Panthers in scoring with 45 points in 39 games. He’s behind only Sam Reinhart, who has 31 goals and 54 points of his own. Barkov is in the second season of an eight-year contract that carries a $10MM cap hit. He’s played in all but three of Florida’s games up to this point.

Other notes from around the league:

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