{"id":109597,"date":"2025-08-01T06:50:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T06:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/109597\/"},"modified":"2025-08-01T06:50:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T06:50:09","slug":"lindstrom-learned-so-much-from-blue-jackets-to-prep-for-nhl-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/109597\/","title":{"rendered":"Lindstrom ‘learned so much’ from Blue Jackets to prep for NHL future"},"content":{"rendered":"

COLUMBUS —<\/strong> Cayden Lindstrom<\/a> received an education over the past year that can\u2019t be replicated when he plays his first season for Michigan State, beginning in October.<\/p>\n

After missing the 2024-25 regular season for Medicine Hat of the Western Hockey League because of a back injury, the 19-year-old center was able to play four games in the postseason and is eager to prove why the Columbus Blue Jackets made him the No. 4 pick in the 2024 NHL Draft.<\/p>\n

\u201cFacing that kind of adversity, especially for that long period of time for an injury like that, you definitely mature faster,\u201d Lindstrom said during Blue Jackets development camp in July. \u201cYou learn more about your body than you ever did and probably ever will, which is good.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m not thrilled that it happened this early in my career. But everything happens for a reason, so having said that, I think it’s helped me tremendously.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lindstrom did get a sampling of NHL life last season; he spent time around the Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena and the adjacent practice facility, got to know them during his free time and learned about a city he hopes will soon be his home.<\/p>\n

What he couldn\u2019t do was play.<\/p>\n

Back issues that limited him to 32 regular-season and four playoff games for Medicine Hat in 2023-24 came to a head when, after months of unsuccessful rehab in Columbus following the draft, he underwent a microdiscectomy to repair a disc that was compressing a nerve last Nov. 19 in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

Columbus wanted him nearby to continue his post-procedure rehab, so he settled in for a long recovery with the hope of returning to the ice for Medicine Hat in the spring.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot a lot of guys get the experience that I had here, staying in Columbus and hanging around pro guys the whole season,\u201d Lindstrom said. \u201cI took so much and learned so much from all the older guys and they gave me so many pointers and cues that I’ll remember forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lindstrom\u2019s perseverance paid off and he played his first game on May 9. He had four points (two goals, two assists) in four games; one in the WHL playoffs and three in the Memorial Cup, where Medicine Hat lost 4-1 to London in the championship June 1.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was nice to see him go back for the playoffs and the Memorial Cup,\u201d Blue Jackets director of hockey operations Rick Nash said. \u201cJust being away from the game for so long, it’s important that he gets his reps. At game speed is one thing. When you’re skating by yourself it\u2019s another thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was a noticeable difference in Lindstrom (6-foot-4, 215 pounds) during development camp, compared to a year ago when he was shut down after several days of skating.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe’s played hockey his whole life and has never taken anything close to that much time off,\u201d Columbus director of player personnel Chris Clark said. \u201cFor him to be healthy and be on the ice, we’re seeing him smiling now and just playing hockey. That\u2019s the best thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lindstrom spent his down time exploring the possibility of going to college after the NCAA relaxed eligibility for players in the Canadian Hockey League as of Aug. 1.<\/p>\n

He chose a burgeoning powerhouse in Michigan State over returning to Medicine Hat.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn college there’s older guys, there\u2019s going to be guys stronger and bigger than me,\u201d he said. \u201cI think that’ll build me as a better hockey player and just help my overall game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lindstrom said he feels he\u2019s back on track to reach his goal.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, I wanted to play in the NHL as soon as possible,\u201d Lindstrom said \u201cI think everything happens for a reason; me going to school is a big part of that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a little bit of, I wouldn’t say, catching up, but a little bit of development that I need and it will help me reach the next level coming into the NHL.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"COLUMBUS — Cayden Lindstrom received an education over the past year that can\u2019t be replicated when he plays…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":109598,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[293,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-109597","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-nhl","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114952183863967195","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109597\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}