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
— Scott Wheeler (@scottcwheeler) May 10, 2025
🍎 Cayden Lindstrom
First game back for both to open the scoring in the WHL Championship.pic.twitter.com/5ezcZ8AnB0
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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