I think you have to separate the Lindstrom pick from the trade idea. The top 5 picks this year are not better than the players available in the top 5 last year, even a 1st OA this year might not be better than say, Demidov or Buium. We don't know yet, and there's no obvious guy this year who is miles better than that group of players. So in that trade we would be delaying by a year, possibly getting a worse draft, and possibly getting a worse pick (if Chicago loads up more and finishes higher in the standings, being without a 1st). It was simply put, a bad trade for the Jackets.
The Lindstrom thing we'll have to see. I don't know if the doctors we hired feel good about what they said about Lindstrom's back. Maybe they actually do, we don't know how his recovery is going right now.