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Columbus Blue Jackets select Cayden Lindstrom fourth overall at 2024 NHL draft
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- Columbus Blue Jackets select Cayden Lindstrom fourth overall at 2024 NHL draft
LAS VEGAS – The Blue Jackets just got bigger, stronger, meaner and deeper down the middle with the fourth pick of the 2024 NHL draft on Friday.
More: Columbus Blue Jackets at 2024 NHL Draft: 5 things to know
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Three picks after the San Jose Sharks chose Boston University center Macklin Celebrini first, Columbus took center Cayden Lindstrom, a power forward from Medicine Hat of the Western Hockey League . Lindstrom missed much of last season with a back injury but displayed dominance when healthy.
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
Listed at 6 feet 3 and 213 pounds, Lindstrom finished third among NHL Central Scouting's rankings of North American skaters with 27 goals, 19 assists and 46 points in 32 games. He plays center but could easily shift to a wing position as a power forward and create just as much havoc.
"I'm going to bring a winning mindset," Lindstrom said. "I'm going to bring a lot of speed and power and skill, a lot of good offensive touch and physicality as well."
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Should Lindstrom remain at center, the Blue Jackets could feature a formidable lineup down the middle in the not-too-distant future.
Adam Fantilli (third overall 2023) is expected to center the first line, while Lindstrom and Cole Sillinger (12th overall 2021) could battle it out for the second and third center roles in a couple of years. If so, captain Boone Jenner may shift into a forechecking wing position. The Jackets could also extend veteran Sean Kuraly 's contract to keep him in the middle of the fourth line.
"It's a tough position to fill with the right people, so I think we've got some now," Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell said. "We've got (Cole) Sillinger too, so you've got some guys you can really continue to build around."
That group of centers would have eye-opening size, strength, skill and snarl — especially after adding Lindstrom.
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"He's a (center), which are hard to come by ... a big center that not only can score, but is very mean," Waddell said. "He plays very hard, so that skillset with that kind of temperment, it's hard to go past those guys."
Prior to the draft Friday, the Blue Jackets traded forward Alexandre Texier to the St. Louis Blues for a 2025 fourth-round pick. They also decided after the first round to keep their second-round pick (No. 36) rather than relinquish it to the Philadelphia Flyers to complete a three-way trade last offseason to acquire defenseman Ivan Provorov.
The draft concludes Saturday at Sphere with rounds 2-7 beginning at 11:30 a.m. ET. The Blue Jackets' other picks are in the third round (No. 69 and No. 86), fourth round (No. 101), fifth round (No. 133) and sixth round (No. 165).
Get more Columbus Blue Jackets talk on the Cannon Fodder podcast
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Blue Jackets select Cayden Lindstrom fourth overall
