NHL Draft experience better than expected: Lindstrom

By JAMES TUBB on July 18, 2024.

jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb

Cayden Lindstrom was in awe at the NHL Draft in Las Vegas.

The Medicine Hat Tigers forward tried to soak up as much of the experience as he could in the end of June. He of course didn’t have to wait long to hear his name called, being selected fourth overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets on day one of the draft, June 28.

“It was amazing, just the overall experience and everything was just was just so surreal,” Lindstrom said. “Especially it being in Vegas and at the Sphere, it was even better than I imagined it as a kid.”

The 18-year-old Chetwynd, B.C. product entered the draft as the CHL’s top prospect, coming off a 32 game season cut short due to a back and hand injury that kept him out of the entire second half. He still managed 27 goals and 46 points in the regular season, adding another goal and two points in four playoff games.

Lindstrom says he thought the Blue Jackets could select him with the conversations they had leading up to the big day.

“I had a good idea, I had a bunch of meetings with Columbus and a bunch of meetings with Montreal and Utah, so I felt like I would go around that range,” Lindstrom said. “But I didn’t really know what to expect.”

He spoke with Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman ahead of the draft, with a story on his family and leaving his hometown early for the Delta Hockey Academy ahead of being selected 54th overall by the Tigers in the 2021 WHL draft.

Lindstrom shared a long hug with his mom Patricia and then grandmother Edna. He says having them there made the moment even sweeter.

“Having my family there to support me, they’ve been with me for obviously, my whole life supporting me every step of the way,” Lindstrom said. “Just having them was really important to me and important to them as well to watch me do that. It was really good to have him there and for them and experience, the bigger city and in the Sphere and draft and everything, that was really good.”

Lindstrom left Las Vegas almost immediately, heading to the Blue Jackets’ development camp the next week. He wasn’t able to participate in all of the on-ice practices but says he enjoyed getting to know people in the organization and see his future NHL city.

“They treated all of us so well and the city really started to grow on me the week I was there,” Lindstrom said. “There’s the Ohio State Buckeyes football team, there’s the soccer team and it’s a pretty big sports city, it’s a great place to play and it seems like it’s a great city and a fun city to be in.”

He enjoyed getting to meet Blue Jackets’ fans and sign autographs on a different jersey than he has while in Medicine Hat. Needing a new colour to sign the blue Columbus jersey than the orange and black.

Lindstrom was travelling to Columbus on Wednesday for the rest of the summer. He’ll also be attending Hockey Canada’s National Junior Team Summer Showcase July 28 to August 3 in Windsor, Ont. and Plymouth, Mich., in preparation for the 2025 World Juniors tournament.

He’ll be living on his own in Columbus and Lindstrom says the rest of his summer is focused on getting better and getting back to 100 per cent.

“Just on the ice training and doing everything,” Lindstrom said. “They have everything there in Columbus, so just trying to get better overall as a player and a person.”

Lindstrom heard from former Medicine Hat Tigers and Blue jackets forward Cole Sillinger after being selected. The two shared a brief back-and-forth via text.

With the NHL Draft behind him and the aura of being elected in the past, Lindstrom says he’s just focused on the next step.

“It was just a pretty good experience, it was fun, but there’s a lot a lot more work ahead,” Lindstrom said. “The work starts now and I have a lot more to do ahead of me.”

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