Yes, Cayden Lindstrom’s herniated disc is worrisome

In the last few days, we learned that Cayden Lindstrom had suffered a herniated disc last season.

So we’re not just talking about a little back pain. We’re talking about a rather worrying situation for a 17-year-old who aspires to great success in the NHL.

The big question is how this will affect the draft. After all, there’s a world in which Ivan Demidov goes in the top-4 and the Habs have a choice between Lindstrom or a player they like less.

In such a case, what will they do?

Obviously, we can’t know what the Habs know about all this. He had a chance to talk to the young man and evaluate his medical file at the last combine , and who knows what conclusions the Flanelle drew in all this.

Is there reason for optimism? Possibly, yes. After all, Martin Thériault told BPM Sports this morning that some doctors who have been in contact with people who know Corey Pronman are more optimistic than they were a month ago.

But the fact remains that, despite the fact that Lindstrom took part in the combine, he still has to deal with a herniated disc. And that’s something you never fully recover from.

Take Carey Price, for example. He’s already said that, since he stopped playing hockey, he’s been able to play softball to some extent. That said, it took him weeks to recover – and we hadn’t seen that publicly.

Obviously, Lindstrom isn’t as injured as Price. But the point I’m trying to make is that we don’t know if Lindstrom was in bad shape the day after his physical tests. To me, that’s an important detail.

Martin Thériault reminds us that Pronman is confident that Lindstrom will emerge in the top-5, and it’s possible that he will. And if the Habs choose him, it’ll be because they’ve done their homework and decided that the game is worth the risk.

The Habs have had this information in their hands for some time now.

But still: we have to be concerned about the impact his herniated disc will have on the draft and on the decisions the Habs’ executives will be making on the evening of the 28th.