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Cayden Lindstrom, Columbus Blue Jackets (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)

Blue Jackets’ Cayden Lindstrom Progressing, Still Ways Off From Playing

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers | By Mark Scheig | Last updated Apr 14, 2025 12:46 PM ET

The Columbus Blue Jackets have been patient with Cayden Lindstrom ever since they drafted him fourth overall at the 2024 NHL Draft. This past week, he was spotted skating with his junior team in Medicine Hat.

According to James Tubb of the Medicine Hat News, Lindstrom skated with the scratches in advance of Game 2 of their series against the Prince Albert Raiders. The Tigers went on to a 5-4 overtime win on Sunday night to go up 2-0 in their best-of-seven series.

Seeing images of Lindstrom skating with the Tigers ramped up speculation he could be close to playing. However, that is not the case at this time.

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According to Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell, Lindstrom cannot skate with the Blue Jackets or with the Cleveland Monsters because he is an unsigned player. This is a chance to get on the ice with some of his Tigers’ teammates.

As for a potential timeframe as to when he could play, that is still up in the air. Here’s what Waddell told the Hockey Writers on Monday.

“He’s been rehabbing in Columbus all year. He can’t skate with our team. He can’t skate in Cleveland because he is not a signed player,” Waddell said. “So he’s just been going on the ice by himself. And the time came, he saw the doctor last Monday. Then he started getting into a little bit of contact. The doctor said he’s probably 4-6 weeks. If he had 20 practices, then they could reevaluate to see if he’s ready for games. So I think it’s a long shot whether he plays or not (for Medicine Hat.)”

“But now at least there, he can get on the ice with teammates and practice and start doing some battle drills and those types of things. But it’s an opportunity. We’ve talked about it for a long time and the coach there has been very understanding of the whole situation. (He) knows that he’s a ways from playing but he said, let me bring him in and let him at least skate with the guys. They’re not going to practice that much because they’re in a playoff series with travel. So at least he’ll get some opportunity with his teammates.”

As for Lindstrom’s next step, whether it’s playing in the NCAA’s or not, Waddell said they’ve left the decision up to the player to decide where to go. If the Blue Jackets signed him, he would not be eligible for college hockey.

“We’ve met with him multiple times. Rick Nash has been real involved with it. He’s trying to figure out what his best move is. Certainly college is an option for him because he’s not a signed player. If we’d assign him at the beginning of the year, he couldn’t have gone to college. But since he’s unsigned , he’s evaluating that. I know he’s talked to quite a few schools. There’s been one out there rumored quite a bit (Michigan State.)”

“And what we told him is you got to make your decision here because I know from year’s past, I’ve been involved with junior teams where kids aren’t happy. They want to get traded. They want to go some place. And I said if we get too involved and we recommend something that doesn’t work out, then we’re going to be the ones to blame. I always say, let’s turn it over a kid, his family advisor, his parents and let them decide what’s best from them. We will always answer questions when we’re asked, how we think the programs are. But we always leave it to the kid to make the decision.”

For now, Lindstrom will continue to be around Medicine Hat getting some work in including some contact. If all goes well, the doctors will evaluate if he will be able to play games. Meanwhile, stay tuned to see which school he ultimately selects to play for in 2025-26.