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5 Columbus Blue Jackets takeaways from NHL draft's first day
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- 5 Columbus Blue Jackets takeaways from NHL draft's first day
LAS VEGAS — Cayden Lindstrom's smile flashed as brightly as his diamond stud earrings.
More: Columbus Blue Jackets select Cayden Lindstrom fourth overall at 2024 NHL draft
After pulling on a Blue Jackets jersey for the first time and standing on stage at Sphere Las Vegas as the fourth pick in the 2024 NHL draft , Lindstrom's nerves eased. He will now join an impressive collection of young talent that could have the Blue Jackets pointed North quickly.
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"I was excited," Lindstrom said. "All my (pre-draft) meetings went well with them. They're all really good people. I train with some of the guys on the Blue Jackets and it seems like they've got a lot of things happening. So, I'm so happy to be a Columbus Blue Jacket."
Don Waddell, the Jackets' general manager and president of hockey operations , is equally pleased. After turning down multiple trade offers for the fourth pick, the Blue Jackets left the draft floor happy to add another promising young center from the WHL's Medicine Hat Tigers to go with Adam Fantilli (third overall 2023) , Cole Sillinger (12 th overall 2021) and Dmitri Voronkov (fourth round 2019) .
"It's a tough position to fill with the right people, so I think we've got some now," Waddell said. "We've got Sillinger, too, so you've got some guys you can really continue to build around. The bigger thing is this is the fourth pick overall. We hope we're not picking this high again, so we had to get this right. It was important for us."
The Blue Jackets head into the draft's conclusion Saturday with six picks remaining: No. 36 (second round), No. 69 (third round), No. 86 (third round), No. 101 (fourth round), No. 133 (fifth round) and No. 165 (sixth round).
Jun 28, 2024; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Cayden Lindstrom is selected with the 4th overall pick in the first round of the 2024 NHL Draft by the Columbus Blue Jackets at The Sphere. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
Here are five takeaways from an entertaining first day at the 2024 draft:
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Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Cayden Lindstrom says mom is 'superhero'
Lindstrom fell in love with hockey around age 3 or 4, according to his mother Patricia. She, on the other hand, was not a hockey fan in the least. Her father, whom Cayden calls 'Papa' is a big hockey fan who helped foster his grandson's growing passion for the sport as he grew up in tiny Chetwynd, British Columbia.
Patricia, a single mom to four children, got fully onboard with her son's dream when she saw how much it meant to him. She and Cayden both remember 14-hour car rides with her at the wheel as they drove to Vancouver for summer tournaments. After hearing his name called, Lindstrom hugged his mom and grandmother, Edna, and held on as long as he could before heading to the stage.
"It was amazing, just everything she's done for me up until this point," he said. "I tried to hug her as long as I could, her and my grandma. It was pretty emotional, for sure. She's my superhero, really."
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Friday night was the first time Patricia heard her son say those words in person, not just reading them in articles about him. It was something she'll never forget.
"I don't even know how to explain how that made me feel, knowing I was able to be that 'superhero' for him and be that role model and backbone and his supporter," she said. "So, to hear something like that is really fulfilling, knowing that myself as a mother, I did my best for him."
Jun 28, 2024; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Cayden Lindstrom is selected with the 4th overall pick in the first round of the 2024 NHL Draft by the Columbus Blue Jackets at The Sphere. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Cayden Lindstrom 'owes' grandfather for ruined furniture, hockey passion
Lindstrom's first 'skates' were actually roller skates that his grandfather eventually replaced with hockey skates. The blades were removed so that Lindstrom could walk around the house wearing them, but they were eventually reattached to start the young forward's path toward achieving his dream.
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"He mostly was with his 'Papa,' " Patricia Lindstrom said. "His 'Papa' was a big influence for him in hockey and one of his biggest supporters. My dad played a huge part in his hockey career, along with my mom. It was more my dad with the hockey things and his mom driving and taking him to things."
Lots of items around the house were cut, scuffed or smashed by skate blades, sticks and pucks.
"He's ruined couches, walls and sheds," Patricia Lindstrom, smiling. "He's done it all, and he always says, 'I'll get you back, Papa ... one day.'"
That day arrived Friday and Papa's payoff was the feelings he had watching his grandson pull on a Blue Jackets jersey and cap.
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"The first thing my dad texted me after he got picked was, 'I cried,' " Patricia Lindstrom said. "I was like, 'Yeah, of course. We're all going to cry.' Mama held it in pretty good, but at some point, I'm going to bawl. I still haven't yet. Maybe later. But that's my dad's baby."
Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Cayden Lindstrom is from remote city in British Columbia
Two years ago, the Blue Jackets selected defenseman Denton Mateychuk 12thoverall and helped put his tiny hometown of Dominion City, Manitoba (population 319) on the NHL map.
Mateychuk now has company in Lindstrom, who was raised in Chetwynd, British Columbia, (population 2,503).
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"I couldn't even be prouder of such a small village that we came from, because honestly it took that village to help me raise that boy and to get him where he is today," Patricia Lindstrom said. "Chetwynd is amazing for supporters, sponsorships and families. They helped my son to get here, so I'm very grateful."
Lindstrom didn't forget his roots or unique path to the NHL draft either.
"Me and my mom were talking about it (Thursday)," he said. "Everything up until this point is pretty crazy, coming from a small town in Chetwynd and now here in Vegas. I'm just enjoying it with my family."
Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Cayden Lindstrom says back is fine, eager to attend development camp
Lindstrom missed most of this past season in Medicine Hat, Alberta with a back injury. He's also skating regularly and training in the gym during offseason workouts.
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Lindstrom is expected to arrive in Columbus on Sunday for development camp, which runs Tuesday through Friday with on-ice work at the OhioHealth Ice Haus next to Nationwide Arena. Each of those sessions is open to the public, including a scheduled prospect scrimmage Friday morning to conclude the week.
"I'm feeling good," Lindstrom said. "I'm on the ice four to five times a week and in the gym basically as much as I can just doing exercises to help me stay consistent."
Lindstrom's offseason skates have included Blue Jackets forward Kent Johnson (fifth overall pick 2021) and defenseman Jake Christiansen , who've already sold him a solid pitch about Columbus as a city and hockey market.
"They tell me it's a pretty nice spot," Lindstrom said. "They said there's a couple nice spots there and it's a nice city and a good city to play in. I'm pumped to check it out."
Columbus Blue Jackets center Alexandre Texier (42) performs a wrap around goal attempt while Carolina Hurricanes right wing Andrei Svechnikov (37) defends during the third period of the NHL game at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio Oct. 23.
Columbus Blue Jackets limit trading to Alexandre Texier deal with St. Louis Blues on draft's first day
Waddell told The Dispatch before the draft that he had "many balls in the air right now but are perfectly happy keeping our pick."
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Not long after saying that, he signed off on a trade that sent forward Alexandre Texier to the St. Louis Blues for a 2025 fourth-round pick, thus removing one of the Jackets' six remaining restricted free agents.
Texier quickly signed a two-year contract extension that will cost the Blues $2.1 million per season against the NHL's $88 million salary cap. That was a price the Blue Jackets weren't keen on paying.
"We have a lot of forwards," Waddell said. "If we're going to pencil him into the fourth line, to pay somebody $2 million ... it's hard to do. So, we made a decision that we would try to move him, and if we couldn't move him, then we had to make a decision in the next 48 hours ― before the start of free agency Monday ― what to do with him."
That wasn't the only trade offers buzzing into Waddell's phone. The Philadelphia Flyers and Chicago Blackhawks reportedly expressed interest in obtaining the Jackets' pick. Waddell even felt that one of the proposals was good enough to accept if Lindstrom wasn't available to draft.
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It was a backup option.
"We had a deal that we would've taken if Cayden wasn't available, but he was available," Waddell said. "So, I sent the text right away. They said, 'Are you keeping your pick?' I said, 'Absolutely.' I wouldn't have wanted to trade ahead of time and our player's still sitting there. When you're in a draft and you want somebody, don't pass up that opportunity. Get him."
So, the Jackets got their guy and they're now loaded with an enviable mixture of size, strength, speed and toughness down the middle of the ice.
Get more Columbus Blue Jackets talk on the Cannon Fodder podcast
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: NHL draft 2024: Columbus Blue Jackets notes from second day
