The Montreal Canadiens are facing a very different situation at the 2024 Draft to the one they found themselves in at the 2022 Draft. Not because this one is set in Las Vegas and not Montreal, but because the Canadiens’ front office doesn’t get to speak first. They’ll have to wait until four other teams have made their pick before they can finally decide who their man is. This means the preparation is very different, and the press is frantically searching for any clue as to who it might be. In La Presse yesterday morning, Guillaume Lefrançois reported the organization took Cayden Lindstrom to dinner last week (from: “Cayden Lindstrom a soupé avec le Canadien,” La Presse, June 8, 2024). It is surely an interesting development for those hoping the Canadiens choose the big center.
Does it Mean Anything?
Before jumping for joy if you are in the Lindstrom camp, you should know that in 2022, the Canadiens took Shayne Wright and Logan Cooley to dinner but not Juraj Slafkovsky. However, Montreal did meet with him in a social/informal setting. When the time came to choose, though, it was Slafkovsky’s name that general manager Kent Hughes spoke on the Bell Centre stage in front of a full house of fans, prospects, and their families.
That same year, when the Canadiens met Slafkovsky, team owner Geoff Molson was present, although silent. When Lindstrom met the Canadiens’ brass at a Buffalo Steakhouse, the attendees included Hughes, Jeff Gorton, Martin Lapointe, and Billy Ryan, the director of player evaluation and amateur scout. However, that doesn’t guarantee anything, either.
Why the Canadiens Should Pick Lindstrom
I recently wrote an article about Montreal’s need to plan for the possibility of a future without Kirby Dach. Don’t misunderstand me; I’m not saying they should trade him, just that they should look for another big frame center in case Dach’s injury luck (or lack thereof) doesn’t change and they end up having to acknowledge that he is, unfortunately, brittle.
Lindstrom could be just what the doctor ordered. He’s 6-foot-3 and weighs in at 214 pounds. ach is 6-foot-4 and weighs 217 pounds (fresh stats from THW’s 2024 NHL Combine Heights & Weights). It’s not identical, but it’s near enough since every prospect tends to bulk up when they get to the NHL. f course, there’s no telling if Lindstrom will develop to be as agile as Dach on the ice and as creative. till, with the coaching staff, the Canadiens now have Adam Nicholas working with the players as well, so you’d think they’d be able to develop such an important prospect in the right way.
According to his THW’s 2024 NHL Draft Prospect Profile, he has all the tools to become a great NHL player, and he would feel like a natural using Martin St.Louis’ “concepts” (since the Canadiens’ head coach insists he doesn’t have a system). The profile mentions his speed, size, and skill, three attributes that would make him a perfect project for St.Louis and Co.
Arpon Basu penned an interesting article (from: “Cayden Lindstrom’s dream of playing under the bright lights of the NHL is approaching,” The Athletic, June 7, 2024) about Lindstrom yesterday. t reveals that at the onset of the pandemic, Daren Hermiston (Lindstrom’s agent) made arrangements so he would move 12 hours away from home to Vancouver to learn and train at the Delta Hockey Academy. Ian Gallagher (Brendan Gallagher’s father) is the President of the Academy, and he has this to say about Lindstrom, who he has seen up close since he was just 14:
“In the 30 years that I’ve been doing this, he’s No. 1 in a number of physical categories: his power, his speed. During that pandemic year, our NHL players were back at the rink, and his lap speed at the age of 14 was comparable to what they were doing – what those pro bodies were doing. He was doing bench runs with 10-year pros and finishing before them. He’s advanced in those categories.” (from: “Cayden Lindstrom’s dream of playing under the bright lights of the NHL is approaching”, The Athletic, June 7, 2024).”
The Canadiens are undoubtedly aware of his backstory, and they will have spoken to Gallagher senior to get the rundown on the kid. I suspect it’s part of the due diligence Hughes’ team has done, especially since Gallagher Jr. is in the organization.
Why the Canadiens Shouldn’t Pick Lindstrom
If the Canadiens are left in limbo on Dach’s health way too often, Lindstrom is no stranger to the infirmary; he’s just had a shortened season because of a couple of upper body injuries. Arpon Basu reports he had a pair of ailments, back and hand issues (from: “Cayden Lindstrom’s dream of playing under the bright lights of the NHL is approaching,” The Athletic, June 7, 2024). In the end, in his first year of draft eligibility, he only played 32 games, during which he gathered 46 points. In other words, that’s a 1.44 points-per-game average. That’s definitely interesting, but who knows if he would have kept the same pace all season long had he stayed healthy? t could have gone up just as well as it could have gone down.
The injury ninja did not scare the Canadiens when they picked Alex Galchenyuk third overall in the 2012 Draft. He had only played two games in his draft year, so that pick didn’t work out so well for Marc Bergevin and his scouting staff, but it had absolutely nothing to do with Galchenyuk’s knee. The Canadiens’ front office then was nothing like now’s, mind you.
Skipping Some Tests
Thanks to the injury, Lindstrom had to skip some tests at the combine, but it shouldn’t be held against him, especially as this event is as much about the interview as it is about the tests. It’s one thing to have a portrait of how much a player can bench press at 18 years old, but it’s quite another to get a feel for the kid’s determination and professionalism.
The combine was introduced in 1994 (although some sources have the combine’s inception in 1993); in an interesting article, Gare Joyce quotes an unnamed scout:
I consider the interview the most important thing that we get at the draft combine—I leave the science to the strength and conditioning guys to assess. As a scout, it’s what’s on the ice first, what the kid’s psychological make-up is like and then the physical science. And the thing was, that year, when Crosby didn’t need to talk to anybody, he was the best interview of the week.
Alexandre Daigle was picked first overall at the 1993 Draft, would it have been the case if the Ottawa Senators got to interview him or got to interview him as deeply as what the teams do nowadays? Would it have come across that he didn’t live and breathe hockey? hat he had fallen out of love with the sport? It’s a question that begs to be asked…
If you are fed up with all the 2024 Draft coverage, hang in there, only 19 days left before the first-round. While it may seem like an overkill to casual fans, this process is incredibly important for rebuilding teams. The better the prospects, the faster they graduate to the NHL, and the Canadiens can have them at a controlled cost on their entry-level contract. Even on their second contract, Hughes has managed to put a healthy salary structure in Montreal’s team, making Nick Suzuki his highest-paid forward, the one players shouldn’t expect to overtake…not for now anyway, but the salaries being what they are, it surely won’t last forever.
This summer, Hughes will have to start putting such structure in place on the blue line with Arber Xhekaj and Justin Barron being restricted free agents. Of course, neither will be the top of the range for the Canadiens, but Hughes will still have to put them at the level he fills will fit his structure. Logic dictates that Guhle should be at the top when he is set to become an RFA at the end of next season, but that might not last all that long, depending on how well Lane Hutson performs during his ELC. Offensive defensemen are generally very well paid when they are highly productive.
It’s hard not to be excited about the upcoming draft, considering Montreal picks very early and could get a real impact player with that first-round pick or their second first-round pick as well, although that is statistically less likely. The later picks could also be used as tradeable assets. Hughes has got us hooked on the draft since he took over from Bergevin with big trades during or around the big days.
If the Canadiens take Lindstrom, I won’t be disappointed. Whether he’ll be available by then is also a legitimate concern, but time will tell.
