{"id":519610,"date":"2026-03-24T04:14:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T04:14:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/519610\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T04:14:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T04:14:16","slug":"cayden-lindstrom-jackson-smith-to-return-to-ncaa-pro-hockey-rumors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/519610\/","title":{"rendered":"Cayden Lindstrom, Jackson Smith To Return To NCAA \u2013 Pro Hockey Rumors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cayden Lindstrom<\/a> and Jackson Smith<\/a>, two of the Columbus Blue Jackets\u2019 top prospects, will not turn pro at the conclusion of their respective freshman campaigns in college hockey. Instead, each will return and play their sophomore season in college, The Athletic\u2019s Aaron Portzline reported today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That Lindstrom has decided to remain in college hockey is not a massive surprise. The 20-year-old, who plays at Michigan State, missed all of 2024-25 as he managed a back injury that ultimately required surgery. Health issues stalled Lindstrom\u2019s first year of development after he was selected No. 4 overall at the 2025 draft, and that has left Columbus likely more willing to be patient with his growth.<\/p>\n

In addition to the impact his back surgery had on his development, another factor contributing to Lindstrom\u2019s decision is his uneven freshman campaign. Portzline wrote that Lindstrom \u201chas been challenged by NCAA-level hockey, perhaps more than most expected,\u201d as he posted just three goals and 10 points in 29 games. He became more productive as the season went on, and showed real flashes of the talent that made him such a tantalizing prospect in his draft year.<\/p>\n

But the reality Columbus has had to deal with is simply because of just how much time Lindstrom missed due to injury (even dating back to his draft campaign, when he was limited to 36 regular season and playoff contests in the WHL), he\u2019s not on the same developmental timeline as the players drafted around him.<\/p>\n

Both Beckett Sennecke<\/a> (2025\u2019s No. 3 pick) and Ivan Demidov<\/a> (2025\u2019s No. 5 pick) have been two of the league\u2019s most impressive rookies this season. Columbus and Lindstrom would surely prefer for his development, in an ideal world, to have played out on an accelerated track the it has for those two wingers. But both Sennecke and Demidov have enjoyed good health over the last two years in a way Lindstrom simply has not.<\/p>\n

With the Blue Jackets making a push for the playoffs this season, and boasting a deep group of centers that includes Adam Fantilli<\/a>, Charlie Coyle<\/a>, Sean Monahan<\/a>, Cole Sillinger<\/a>, and Boone Jenner<\/a> (who has played more wing since the team added Monahan, but is a natural center), there is not an immediate roster need that might push the team to bring Lindstrom to the pro ranks early.<\/p>\n

Instead, the team\u2019s success at the position gives them the flexibility to keep Lindstrom in college and allow him to develop at his own pace. If he can have a healthy, productive sophomore campaign with the Spartans, it\u2019s entirely possible we\u2019ll see Lindstrom in the NHL next spring. Despite his injuries, Lindstrom could still very well end up a dynamic No. 2 center behind Fantilli for the team, giving the club an enviable set of promising young players at the position.<\/p>\n

Pivoting to Smith, his return to Penn State for his sophomore season is more of a surprise. The No. 14 pick of the 2025 draft has had a strong debut campaign with the Nittany Lions, scoring 11 goals and 26 points in 34 games. He was named a second-team Big Ten All-Star and set the record<\/a> for the most goals in a single season by a defenseman in Penn State program history.<\/p>\n

According to Portzline, \u201cthe Blue Jackets have been delighted\u201d with the improvement in Smith\u2019s defensive game over the course of the season, and are content to have him spend another year in an environment where he\u2019s excelling.<\/p>\n

Columbus has been one of the league\u2019s best teams since bringing veteran coach Rick Bowness behind their bench, and stand a real chance of reaching the playoffs. But despite having a real chance to play into the spring, it does not appear the Blue Jackets will be doing so with the help of some of their top prospects. Instead, Blue Jackets fans will likely be able to see both players at another rink in Columbus \u2013 at Ohio State, whenever the Spartans or Nittany Lions make the trip to play the Buckeyes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cayden Lindstrom and Jackson Smith, two of the Columbus Blue Jackets\u2019 top prospects, will not turn pro at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[6606,230,5,471,901,4,178],"class_list":["post-519610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-nhl","tag-cayden-lindstrom","tag-columbus-blue-jackets","tag-hockey","tag-jackson-smith","tag-ncaa","tag-nhl","tag-prospects"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116282213268993034","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=519610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519610\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=519610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=519610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=519610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}