The New York Rangers probably viewed Lindgren, a defenseman from Burnsville, Minnesota, as a project when they acquired him in a trade that sent forward Rick Nash to the Boston Bruins on Feb. 25, 2018.

Less than two years later, Lindgren was playing on the top four in New York as part of a young, skilled group of defensemen. He evolved to be the heart and soul of the defense unit and often paired with Adam Fox, until he was traded to the Colorado Avalanche with Jimmy Vesey on March 1, 2025, for Juuso Parssinen, Calvin de Haan and conditional second- and fourth-round picks in the 2025 NHL Draft.

Lindgren signed a four-year, $18 million contract with the Seattle Kraken on July 1, 2025.

The Bruins had selected Lindgren in the second round (No. 49) of the 2016 NHL Draft after his second season with USA Hockey's National Team Development Program. He played two seasons at the University of Minnesota and helped the United States finish first at the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship before turning pro and signing with the Rangers on March 23, 2018, less than a month after the trade.

The Rangers sent Lindgren to Hartford of the American Hockey League for the remainder of the 2017-18 season and almost all of 2018-19. But the Rangers called him up when injuries hit at midseason; he made his NHL debut against the Carolina Hurricanes on Jan. 15, 2019 and played five games with New York.

Lindgren began the 2019-20 season with Hartford but was recalled before the season was a month old and soon settled into a regular pairing with fellow rookie Adam Fox - his physicality and Fox's skating and puck-moving skills proved to be an excellent match. He scored his first NHL goal against the Florida Panthers on Nov. 10, 2019 and finished the season with 14 points (one goal, 13 assists) and a plus-16 rating in 60 games.