The Athletic’s Hockey Show is a smart way for hockey fans to invest their limited podcast listening time and the last edition (June 14, 2024) is no exception. This episode was particularly interesting for Montreal Canadiens fans with Arpon Basu being there to discuss various topics. If you’ve missed it, here’s my rundown of what was said and my opinion on those developments.
Cayden Lindstrom’s Health
In the show’s opening, Corey Pronman mentioned that highly touted prospect Cayden Lindstrom’s back injury involved a herniated disc. While it was no secret the potential top-five pick was bothered by a back injury last season, especially since he only played 32 games, nobody had explicitly said that was the root cause.
However, there is no need to panic as they added Lindstrom had undertaken tests that stressed his back at the Combine, and he didn’t look bothered by the injury. I’m convinced the Canadiens have conducted a thorough examination of the youngster’s file and injury track record, if they do decide to go for the Medicine Hat Tigers’ player, it will mean they are confident the issue is over and done with.
The bigger worry for general manager Kent Hughes and his team has got to be who the four teams in front of them will be picking. Of course, Macklin Celebrini will be gone as the first-overall pick but who the Chicago Blackhawks, Anaheim Ducks, and Columbus Blue Jackets will go for remains a mystery.
Canadiens’ Pick at Fifth Overall
Considering Montreal can’t know who will be picked by the Blackhawks, Ducks, and Blue Jackets, it makes it harder for them to get a sense of who will be available when it’s their turn to take to the stage. That’s nothing out of the ordinary though, it’s the very nature of a draft unless you’re picking right at the top.
A little less than two weeks before the draft, Basu believes the Canadiens will be able to pick a forward since there are several remarkable defencemen up for grabs in this crop of prospects. The journalist even goes as far as saying that perhaps that’s why they drafted David Reinbacher last season. The thinking is that teams in the first few spots in the upcoming draft will go for those defencemen, meaning that top forwards will therefore be available to Hughes’ team a few positions down.
Who would those top forwards be? Basu believes Montreal is interested in both Lindstrom and Ivan Demidov. The organization loves the size of Lindstrom; at the 2024 NHL Scouting Combine, the…
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