Prospect Info: Cayden Lindstrom

[stevo61]

You're not wrong but the seed of doubt isn't being planted in people's minds for 0 reason.

The seed of doubt is getting planted because the team willingly spent a top 5 pick on a guy with a bad back and then was surprised when his bad back caused him to miss an entire year of development.

if you want to worry about the injury overall? sure. If you are forming evaluations about his current conditioning, skating, explosiveness that's where I say it makes no sense

 

[cbjthrowaway]

I think you have to trust your medical staff and scouts.

yeah, either waddell and siren completely disregarded the medical staff, or they listened and the medical staff ended up being wrong. or they got bad info to begin with, but if that was the case they wouldn’t have sent him back to medicine hat.

all the people ripping waddell for the pick are ignoring that a GM should listen to the doctors. what else is he supposed to do?

if you have pick #4 and the #2 guy on your board is available, and your doctors signed off on his bill of health, you don’t overthink it, and you run to the podium.

 

[Xoggz22]

I'm not going to tell any of you that you shouldn't be worried. I don't carry the same concern as many of you. My eye rolls with this thread is the predictive measures I read and the thought that we, as fans, can make an educated conclusion on the final outcome. He's a high value asset. Any rush to play or judgement is not good for the brain. Let it play out, then complain if it was a bad call. It's not a bad call at this point, just a point in time that sucks to go through for him, the team and us. He played, he has an off season, he's young

 

[ClevelandJacketFan]

He's going to get a full offseason being fully healthy, being able to work both on his body and his game.

If he was going to be rehabbing and dealing with his back again, I'd be super concerned with his development, but I believe this will be good for his development. Now if his back flares up again while at MSU, or it continually is a problem, then I'll be worried.

I don't have concerns with the skill at all. Just need more games.

 

[OldGoaltender]

The thing that helps Linstrom more than anything else is age. His body is still growing so that’s a huge benefit.

 

[Ice9]

Work that core kid…

 

[CBJWerenski8]

Cayden Lindstrom was flying home to Vancouver on Wednesday, ready to enjoy a full offseason of conditioning and buoyed by the knowledge that the worst of his medical issues — fingers crossed, knock on wood, etc. — were finally behind him.

His surgically repaired back has healed and is continuing to strengthen. That much was proven by Lindstrom’s late-season return to action with the Western Hockey League’s Medicine Hat Tigers, first in the WHL championship series and then in the Memorial Cup, where Medicine Hat lost in the championship game.
Lindstrom, the Columbus Blue Jackets’ No. 4 overall pick last summer, will need to pay attention to a summer workout program designed to avoid putting too much stress on his back. But he is cleared to return to the routine of being a full-time hockey player.

“Playing those games really helped me (determine) where I’m at physically and mentally,” Lindstrom told The Athletic on Wednesday. “Now I know what I need to work on during the summer. Now I know I can play games and push myself through some of the effects and it won’t harm me in any way.

“(My back) is a lot better. It’s still going to take some time to fully feel (like) myself again. That’s what it’s like when you miss a full year of hockey. But the rest of it (the herniated disc in his lower back) is behind me.”

This is, quite obviously, a huge sigh of relief for the Blue Jackets, who expected Lindstrom to miss the entire season after he had surgery in late November. Medicine Hat’s long postseason run and Lindstrom’s patient relentlessness in rehabilitation, made it possible.

“We were all watching nervously, of course,” Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell said, referring to the club’s hockey operations staffers.

“It was important for him to play for multiple reasons. But psychologically, after being out so long and putting in all that work, he could get back into a game and find out he can play without having any issues going forward. That’s big for him.”
On Wednesday, he confirmed The Athletic’s report in April that he has committed to attend Michigan State University in the fall, making the leap from Medicine Hat — and the Canadian junior ranks — to the NCAA, a move that was forbidden by NCAA rules until recently.

The Blue Jackets have known this was a consideration since they drafted him, which explains why they didn’t rush to sign Lindstrom to his three-year, entry-level contract. If he had signed a pro contract, he would have been ineligible for college.
It will be easier for the Jackets to keep a close eye on Lindstrom in East Lansing, Mich., than it was in Medicine Hat. For Lindstrom, 19, the challenge of playing against older players will help get him ready for the rough-and-tumble world of the NHL, where he’s projected to play center as a power forward.

“It was a really hard decision to leave Medicine Hat,” Lindstrom said. “(GM and coach) Willy Desjardins, and (assistant coaches) Joe Frazer and Josh Maser were such great supporters for me in my career. It was super hard, but I’m heading to Michigan State. I committed there, and that’s where I’ll be playing.

“The travel is so much easier (in college). The facilities (in East Lansing) are great. It’ll help me recover my body and put me in a position to have a really long career.”

As Lindstrom spoke on Wednesday, he sounded more relaxed and at ease than he had in previous interviews. He’s in a better state of mind, it seems, after returning to hockey after more than a year-long absence.

Lindstrom had two goals, two assists and a plus-3 rating in four games during Medicine Hat’s series win over Spokane, and was a dominating force early in the tournament. In Game 3, however, he turned into a leg-on-leg hit with Spokane’s Saige Weinstein that caused a few skipped heartbeats within the Blue Jackets’ front office.

The resulting injury was a charley horse, and Lindstrom was saddled with it the rest of the way. When Medicine Hat flew to Rimouski, Quebec, for the Memorial Cup, he suffered significant swelling in the leg during the flight, and the decision was made to sit him out in Game 1.

He returned for the final three games, but he wasn’t 100 percent. The Blue Jackets received daily updates from Lindstrom, and Waddell said they were pleased with how Medicine Hat and Lindstrom handled the situation.
“It was pretty bad,” Lindstrom said. “I tried to play through it (in Game 5 of the WHL championship series), but I didn’t want to start compensating, because when you start compensating, it leads to other things.

“I want to play more than anything, but there’s a risk-reward in that situation that wouldn’t benefit me or the team in any way.”

But his back was never the issue, Waddell said. “He felt good,” he said. “Back-wise, he’s had no complaints at all.”
Lindstrom will spend the next three weeks in Vancouver, he said, then fly to Columbus in advance of the Blue Jackets’ development camp. After barely skating last year, Lindstrom will be a full participant this year, Waddell said.

He will stay in Columbus after development camp, then head to Michigan State in early July for a six-week summer camp with many of his new teammates. Then he’ll get a week back home in Vancouver before returning to Michigan State for the start of classes in the fall.

Lindstrom is still a long way from the NHL, but he’s now back on the road.

“Missing the whole season was tough,” Lindstrom said. “But this was kinda my goal the whole year. I knew Medicine Hat was going to go far in the playoffs because we had a really good team, a skilled team. It was my goal to push and help the team for the playoffs.

“Don Waddell and (director of hockey operations) Rick Nash and (trainers) Mike Vogt and Dylan Dewey, they all put so much time and effort into me, and that really means a lot to me. They’ve helped me get better and get started on a long career.”

 

[CBJWerenski8]

Another article going into detail about his MSU choice

Columbus Blue Jackets' Lindstrom thankful for juniors finish, eager for Spartans future

After helping Medicine Hat reach the Memorial Cup championship game, Blue Jackets' Lindstrom thankful for that memory before shift to Michigan State.

www.dispatch.com

 

[Xoggz22]

I just can't wait to read the Lindstrom world is ending when he isn't in NHL training camp... (popcorn emoji here).

Here's a hint... college rules will prohibit him from anything but development camp. Just trying to ward off any undue concern about his health when he isn't in camp... or any contract dispute (which he also can't sign if he wants to play in college).

Don't worry, I'm aware there will still be more than enough discussion on something that clearly won't go right with CBJ and Lindstrom...