Much of the NHL has retreated to cottage country, with the hectic period in which the league holds its draft and opens free agency now over.
Add in the prospect development camps that happen in the post-draft period and there’s not a ton of sleep for many in the game as June turns over into July.
That’s why some in the game have started to rethink development camps, with a handful of teams moving them deeper into July and others eliminating the on-ice work that traditionally happens.
So far, though, no such changes have happened in Columbus, and CBJ director of player development Rick Nash is happy with the current setup.
“I put value in it, me personally,” he said. “I think it’s great to get the draft picks in here right away that we drafted – No. 1, to meet everyone, and No. 2, to start to get to know Columbus and the city and the arena, how you get around, what the feel is. A lot of our draft picks have never really been to Columbus, Ohio, and I think that part of it is important.”
For the impact of that, look no further than Cayden Lindstrom. The fourth overall pick in the 2024 draft hails from Chetwynd, British Columbia – more than 12 hours from Vancouver, and a lot further away from Columbus. As such, Lindstrom had never been to Columbus, but he got a crash course on the city during this past week’s camp.
Lindstrom is rehabbing an injury and was able to skate in only one of the four days of camp, but his presence was still beneficial. He didn’t turn down a chance to take a picture or sign an autograph from the CBJ faithful, he threw out the ceremonial first pitch at a Columbus Clippers game and also had a chance to explore a little bit of the city with his teammates.
“They’ve treated me really well,” Lindstrom said at the conclusion of the camp Friday. “They’ve told me everything I really need to know about the city and about the team. It was just fun to be here and learn about the culture. I’ve loved it so far. The city of Columbus is already growing on me a little bit.”
In fact, Lindstrom said he’ll likely be back later in the summer to continue preparing for the season, but in the meantime, he’s headed back to British Columbia for a little bit of downtime after the busy past few weeks. He’ll try to spend some time around the water – boating and hanging out at the beach are personal favorites – while staying in the gym, then he’ll ramp up his workouts near the end of the month.
Through it all, he’ll use the time to prepare to try to make the team when camp begins in September. There’s no need to rush Lindstrom – who had 27 goals and 46 points in 32 games last season with Medicine Hat of the Western Hockey League last season before missing the second half with injury – to the NHL, but the competitor in him will be focused on putting his best foot forward.
“It’s basically tryouts, so I’m going to come and try to do that,” Lindstrom said. “I’m going to do the best I can over the summer to get to that level and get to the top level. I’m a really competitive person, so I’ll do basically anything.”
His introduction to the Blue Jackets organization didn’t just include the city; he also had the chance to start to get to know the players who might be his future teammates. One player who tried to make Lindstrom feel comfortable was Gavin Brindley, the 2023 second-round pick who was the only player in camp with NHL action under his belt after his one-game cameo at the end of last season.
That made Brindley a bit of a natural leader at dev camp, a role he said he took seriously.
“I hung out with Lindstrom quite a bit and helped him out,” Brindley said. “It was good to be with all the guys, all the new draft picks, free agents and the familiar faces that I’ve played against growing up. It was great to see all the guys.”
Brindley is just 19, making him younger than a fair number of the 28 other prospects at camp, but his hockey résumé made him stand out. After finishing in the top 10 of college hockey this past season in goals (25) and points (53), he made his NHL debut with Columbus at the end of the season, and he also had two tours of duty this past season with Team USA by skating at both the World Juniors and World Championships.
Getting the chance to play with and against pros at the NHL level and at the Worlds gave the wing some important perspective on the game as he heads back to Florida to train the rest of this offseason.
“I think just knowing where I stack up against other guys and what I need to improve on going into the summer is huge, right?” he said. “It’s just taking little things that I can and improving as much as I can this summer.”
With everyone headed to their respective homes now for the rest of the offseason, development camp was a chance for the Blue Jackets prospects to continue to get to know each other and the city. Along with on-ice work, the youngsters took in the Clippers game, visited and trained at the Columbus police academy, heard from a guest speaker and shared meals and laughs throughout the week.
“I thought it was great,” Nash said. “The practices were high-paced. I thought (development coaches) Derek Dorsett and Tommy Cross and Jarkko Ruutu did a great job on the ice with the drills and making sure we worked specifics with the D and the forwards.
“I thought the off-the-ice stuff, the guys had a lot of fun with going to the police academy, we did some educational stuff with a guest speaker, and the Clippers game (Thursday). I thought it was a great camp, and the feedback I got from the players is they had a good time, learned a lot. That’s all you can ask for.”