F Cayden Lindstrom - Medicine Hat Tigers, WHL (2024 Draft)

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

The Jackets have really good prospects and depth at every skater position. Voronkov or maybe Sillinger might become a 2C, among a few other possibilities.
I think that makes it more likely that they take Lindstrom though, because every team could use a power forward.



If you love the player, take him.

But there really isn't as much room on D. If you've got Werenski, Mateychuk, and Dickinson at LD then a really good player is on the third pair.



They have a ton of young forwards.

Ducks need RD and they need toughness, I wouldn't be surprised if they take Carter Yakemchuk (yes that early).

True, but if one of them can play RD, or they look at a guy like Parekh that might be a dude with 70+ potential on d for points, but struggle defensively, so the BJs envision him with Werenski, or Mateychuk.

That could be for the Ducks. He has the potential to be a real impactful d and the type you want as he can play in any type of game, if he hits his potential obviously.

 

[majormajor]

True, but if one of them can play RD

I know the Sabres don't care so much for handedness but I'm not a believer that D can generally switch effectively. Most of the ones that switch are small nimble specialists playing on the third pair.

or they look at a guy like Parekh that might be a dude with 70+ potential on d for points, but struggle defensively, so the BJs envision him with Werenski, or Mateychuk.

Jackets D already skews towards offensive D, they really need defensive D help. A lot of clubs at the bottom are that way, there's a lot more clubs needing sterling defense than need a new QB, I could see Parekh slipping a ways.

That could be for the Ducks. He has the potential to be a real impactful d and the type you want as he can play in any type of game, if he hits his potential obviously.

I think so. Yak can't defend right now but I think he'll be good at it someday. He'll definitely be a huge pain to play against.

 

[Guadana]

I see only Ducks who can draft some other player by top-3 pick. Other teams most likely will draft Lindstrom by 2nd-4th pick.

 

[McMozesmadness]

No Catton or Lindstrom at the u18

 

[landy92mack29]

Lindstrom makes sense as he clearly isn't 100% and probably needs a surgery so get the recovery started now vs just hurting draft stock. Curious if Catton got banged up also

 

[Marc the Habs Fan]

As a fan of a team potentially in the range to get Lindstrom, I am alarmed. ''Symptoms of a back injury'' is what Pronman wrote in that article. Seems pretty mysterious...

 

[Junohockeyfan]

I was Team Lindstrom but after watching a few games of his, i wasn't impressed. He lacked energy. Tij Iginla on the other hand was all over the ice.

 

[WeThreeKings]

I think this back injury is going to drop his stock in the top 10.

 

[Peasy]

I think this back injury is going to drop his stock in the top 10.

Agreed. Just look at Vilardi. Was constantly talked about in the top 5 during his draft year and ended up going outside of the top 10 due to injury concerns (specifically his back)

 

[Jee]

Sup cutipie, you will look so good in a habs jersey

 

[coooldude]

Somewhere in some thread, someone posted an uncorroborated rumor that Lindstrom is dealing with a herniated disc. If so, I think he slips a long, long way out of the top 10. This study has 82% of Pro athletes returning from a herniated disc within a year, and an average career length after of 3.3 years... not super encouraging for a 17-18yo kid. Maybe things have been better since this study which was over decades thru 2008.

The Professional Athlete Spine Initiative: outcomes after lumbar disc herniation in 342 elite professional athletes - PubMed

Professional athletes diagnosed with an LDH successfully returned to play at a high rate with productive careers after injury. Whereas older athletes have a shorter career length after diagnosis of LDH, experienced players (high number of games played) demonstrate more games played after...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[Blueston]

Somewhere in some thread, someone posted an uncorroborated rumor that Lindstrom is dealing with a herniated disc. If so, I think he slips a long, long way out of the top 10. This study has 82% of Pro athletes returning from a herniated disc within a year, and an average career length after of 3.3 years... not super encouraging for a 17-18yo kid. Maybe things have been better since this study which was over decades thru 2008.

The Professional Athlete Spine Initiative: outcomes after lumbar disc herniation in 342 elite professional athletes - PubMed

Professional athletes diagnosed with an LDH successfully returned to play at a high rate with productive careers after injury. Whereas older athletes have a shorter career length after diagnosis of LDH, experienced players (high number of games played) demonstrate more games played after...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

What is average career length for similar aged pros who don’t have this injury? Given brevity of most careers, it’s not clear from abstract that an expectation of 3 years after this injury is out of line with normal expectations for non-injured peers.