Much was made of who would be the Montreal Canadiens’ first
pick at the 2024 draft. Picking fifth overall, the Habs’ pick was highly dependent
on what the first four teams would do, but Montreal being the hockey mad market
it is, it didn’t stop the press and fans alike from speculating who would be
available when Kent Hughes and co. finally took to the podium.
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While most advocate that a team should always take the best
player available, the fact that the Canadiens have a glaring need down the
middle made picking Cayden Lindstrom a possibility. The 6-foot-4 supersize
center had a lot of attributes that could have made him attractive for
Montreal, but the one concern was a tricky back injury that had limited him to
32 games in his draft year.
Still, 46 points in 32 games is a more than respectable
output, and had he been available at number five (and if Ivan Demidov had
already been taken), the Habs’ brass might have wanted to roll the dice on him.
As we now know, however, he wasn’t available at number five.
The Columbus Blue Jackets claimed him at number four after the San Jose Sharks
picked Macklin Celebrini at number one, the Chicago Blackhawks took Artyom Levshun
at number two, and the Anaheim Ducks caused a surprise by claiming Beckett
Sennecke in third place.
🚨 Andrew Basha
🍎 Cayden LindstromFirst game back for both to open the scoring in the WHL Championship.pic.twitter.com/5ezcZ8AnB0
— Scott Wheeler (@scottcwheeler) May 10, 2025
Since the draft, Celebrini has made his NHL debut and is a
Calder Trophy nominee. Levshun skated in 18 NHL games, picking up six assists,
and spent the rest of his season in the AHL. Sennecke dominated in the OHL,
putting up 86 points in 56 games.
What did Lindstrom do? He nursed his back injury and finally
skated in his first game since the draft last night, in the OHL final. His
Medicine Hat Tigers signed a 4-1 win over the Spokane Chiefs, and the center
registered an assist. Hopefully, this is the first of many games for the
youngster, but at this stage, Canadiens fans can thank their lucky star that Columbus
decided to pick Lindstrom and not Demidov.
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