COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — The Columbus Blue Jackets development camp is underway at OhioHealth Ice Haus inside Nationwide Arena.

Naturally, it includes, among others, both first-round picks from the 2025 NHL Draft, Jackson Smith and Pyotr Andreyanov, two players who are learning what professional hockey is all about at this level.

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All the Blue Jackets’ 2024 draft picks are also at this camp.

Smith, a defenseman, has been in town since Sunday. He’s spent a lot of time with Cayden Lindstrom, who the Blue Jackets drafted fourth overall last year. In fact, the two players are roommates this week and here’s what the defenseman from Calgary hopes to take away from development camp.

“Seeing how it works here, it’s pretty sweet, so I think just getting on the ice with these guys and learning from the coaches here, I know we have great skills development here, so I’m super excited to learn from them,” Smith said.

For Lindstrom, it’s great to be skating again following a season where he spent a lot of time watching hockey and rehabbing a back injury. There was a benefit, though: he spent significant time with the Blue Jackets, watching how professional players at the highest level navigate an 82-game season.

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“Being around older guys really helped mature me as a person and as a player as well,” he said. “They take care of their bodies and even the way they talk in the room, they’re all business.”

Lindstrom, who will play for Michigan State this season, will see his development camp roommate on the ice in the Big Ten this season, with Smith taking the ice for Penn State.

It should be worth noting that Lindstrom did return for part of the postseason in the spring with Medicine Hat and contributed right away.

The camp is open to the public, with practice on Thursdays and Fridays running from 9:40 a.m. – 12:10 p.m. with a break in the middle. The prospects game on Saturday starts at 9:30 a.m.

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