Potential #4 Overall Pick Cayden Lindstrom Gives An Update On His Health

Potential #4 Overall Pick Cayden Lindstrom Gives An Update On His Health

2024 draft prospect Cayden Lindstrom talked with Mark Masters of TSN on Thursday about a few things. But the one thing everybody wants to know about is the back injury he had this past season which limited him to only 32 games played. 

Masters asked Lindstrom what exactly he was dealing with in terms of his back injury, Lindstrom said "It was just a disc herniation. That's really it. Those things take a long time to heal. It kind of affected the nerve in my leg, gave me a little sciatica. Yeah, it was nothing too crazy. Nerve stuff takes a while to heal. Yeah, Im feeling great now, I'm on the ice about three to five times a week now. I'm in the gym basically everyday training, and I train hard. It's good, it's healing up nicely."

Masters also asked him when he thought he'd be back 100%. Cayden said mid-July is when he was hoping to be at 100%. He also said he's currently at about 90%. Lindstrom said that teams who talked to him at the combine asked him about his injury, but they didn't seem to have any worries and that no one made it a big deal.

One interesting thing Lindstrom mentioned was that he hired a skating coach because he thought his back issue was due to his skating, so he's been working on that.  

You can watch the full interview here. 

Most mock drafts have Cayden Lindstrom going anywhere from 4 to 7. He has a big body that is quite athletic. One scout said about Lindstrom, "The Chetwynd, British Columbia, native is a physical freak. He's listed at 6-foot-5, 205 pounds, but doesn't lack speed and agility. Lindstrom can fly and is agile, too - a deadly combination when paired with his size." Another scout compared him to Pierre-Luc Dubois, saying "he's a natural power forward, who is also a good two-way center and is not afraid to get his nose dirty in front of the net."

The Blue Jackets are either going to go defense or choose Lindstrom if he's there at four. Either way, the Jackets are set up nicely to choose a player who will be able to contribute in a year or two. 

Imagine having Adam Fantilli and Cayden Lindstrom as your top two centers in the future.

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