What started as a seemingly business as usual Wednesday turned into an action-packed day in news for the Columbus Blue Jackets. One part was expected. The other part not as much.
Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell spoke to the media on Wednesday morning at Nationwide Arena. Usually when the team calls for a press conference on short notice, it is for a significant update.
Waddell didn’t waste any time and jumped right into things. He had a significant injury update to share.
Lindstrom Update
Cayden Lindstrom, the Blue Jackets fourth-overall pick at the 2024 NHL Draft, underwent what is called a discectomy procedure. According to the Cleveland Clinic, a discectomy is a surgery to remove part or all of a disk in your spine. It’s for herniated disks that don’t respond to nonsurgical treatment.
Lindstrom has been in Columbus rehabbing since the start of training camp. The hope was for him to get 100% before being assigned back to his junior team the Medicine Hat Tigers.
However according to Waddell, Lindstrom could only get to 90%. They decided that surgery would be the best course of action to get over the hump and get to 100%. The team believes there will be a full recovery. They also believe he will play hockey this season.
Here is some of what Waddell had to say about the decision to have Lindstrom go through surgery.
“He’s been working, doing everything that we’ve asked for him,” Waddell said. “But he’s got to a point where he can’t get to 100%. It’s been 90% or so. Our doctors recommended him to do a procedure called a discectomy. They performed that yesterday. Everything went short, the procedure and everything went well.”
“They felt what they saw is exactly what they thought they would see. His recovery will be back to 100% and hopefully, play hockey again this season.”
With this surgery, Lindstrom “won’t do a whole lot” for the next 30 days. After that, he can start to get back into a routine centered around rehab.
Waddell said they knew this was a possibility. The doctors were good with trying a non-surgical approach first. Once they determined that they went as far as they could go, they opted for the surgery.
To give you a sense of what Lindstrom’s situation looked like, Waddell offered up some additional information as best he could knowing he is not a doctor.
“From what I understand, there was pressure on the spine from the nerve,” Waddell said. “So there is a tiny little fragment that they saw on the MRI that they just had to shave off.”
The doctors believe this is a one-time procedure that should not have any lasting effects moving forward. Waddell did say that the injury didn’t occur with the Blue Jackets. “I believe because he wasn’t here, it was lifting weights when he did it when he was coming back from a rehab assignment.”
Assuming all goes well, Lindstrom would join Medicine Hat for their stretch run to the playoffs. The Blue Jackets always took the long approach with him. While losing development time is never ideal, making sure he’s 100% was their top priority. They hope with this surgery, he will finally get to that threshold.
Jiricek Update
Earlier on Wednesday, the Blue Jackets sent both Mikael Pyyhtia and David Jiricek to the Cleveland Monsters. With Kent Johnson on target to play Thursday night, the team needed roster space.
By sending both Pyyhtia and Jiricek down, the Blue Jackets’ roster stands at 21. Once Johnson is officially activated from injured reserve, that will make 22. Suddenly, the team has some flexibility on roster space that could go a number of ways in the near future.
Waddell spoke about the decision to send Jiricek to the Monsters. His recent performances told the team this was the best course of action at this time.
“I watched him last year when I got the opportunity to come here for the playoffs in Cleveland and thought he played very, very well not just defensively, but offensively. And for whatever reason, it hasn’t gone as smoothly, the transition to the NHL…But his confidence, we can tell just watching the other night, he’s worried about making that mistake. So we just made a decision. Let him go play games in Cleveland and we’ll see how it goes.”
Waddell said that there was a meeting with Jiricek to explain what he needed to work on. Head coach Dean Evason was in that meeting also. Evason believes there are no issues whatsoever after that meeting. Waddell said that he hopes Jiricek goes out there with a good attitude and continues to grow in his career.
Meanwhile, trade speculation has picked up in the Jiricek situation. Waddell said teams have called him. While the price of any trade involving Jiricek would be high, the GM didn’t rule it out either.
“I have to listen to every trade offer,” Waddell said. “It doesn’t matter what the player’s name is. We could make our team better. We always gotta look at those options. Certainly, we’ve gotten calls and we’ll continue to talk to whoever is interested in whichever player, if something makes sense for this organization.”
“I’ve never made a personal decision ever in my career. It’s always what’s best for the organization. If there’s something that makes sense, certainly we’ll look at it.”
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Jiricek now has a chance to play with Denton Mateychuk on the Monsters’ top defensive pair in what would be one of the best young pairs in the AHL.
Jiricek is still just 20 years old. His upside remains high. Evason said on Wednesday that Jiricek needs to work on his game away from the puck. This is a case in which there are clear areas of focus that the player needs to work on to be ready for a full-time NHL role.
While there will always be trade speculation when a top prospect goes through a situation like this, Jiricek is not alone in finding his game. Simon Nemec of the New Jersey Devils is on a similar course.
The Blue Jackets certainly haven’t given up on Jiricek. But they are open to listening to offers if an opportunity presents itself. For now, Jiricek has a chance to play a lot and work on his game. It’s now on him to make the most of this opportunity.