Prospect Info: Brad Lambert, 30th Overall, 2022 NHL Draft

[Ippenator]

Did you even watch the video? I'm guessing not because it's not 'advanced team stats' in the traditional sense. It tracks actual plays and breaks them down when he was on the ice.

It also wasn't some fanboy excuse video, it was very unbiased and analytical, and it revealed some of the shortcomings in his game as well.

Maybe try watching the video. It seems to me as if you got defensive because someone said something negative about the Pelicans.

I’ve watched that video already two times. And yes, it is pretty much meaningless, as they are glorifying in it things that aren’t really deciding games if you can’t do the more important things well, the ones that lead into goals and assists.

The guy talking in those video’s is desperately a fan of Lambert and his great skating. It is very clear and visible. He tries to make everything black into white and tends to blame others and poor luck for things that Lambert is doing poorly himself. Excuses after excuses.

I’m also a fan of Lambert’s skating, but unfortunately I also very much dislike his playing style and his decision making. Hockey isn’t just about great skating and dangling. The best speed in the game becomes from the quickest thinkers and passers. They don’t even have to be the fastest skaters to be way ahead of the Lambert-type of lower hockey IQ skating demons.

 

[Upperdeckjet]

Rinzel, Chesley and Luneau were all available. They all have top 2 potential, even if they project as more likely 2nd pair. All were ranked around the same place as McGroarty. Centres Ostlund, Gaucher, Bystedt and Kulich were also still there. McGroarty may be just as good a pick and as much a C as them.

I'm not nearly as unhappy with McGroarty as I am with Lambert. McGroarty's skating is not that bad and he is working on it. I hope he is more gritty, like a Lowry, than dirty like a Tkachuk. He could replace Lowry at 3C in a few years or become a good power winger.

Lambert just has way too many red flags. I would not have touched him. Father issues, attitude issues and regressing from D-1 to draft year is a terrible look. We can hope that falling all the way to 30 was the kick in the nads this kid needed but if not, he has bust written all over him.

If we had taken McGroarty at 14 and then Luneau or Chesley at 30 I'd have been fairly happy with this draft. I like Salomonsen and Zhilkin well enough where they were taken. Brown is a strange pick. I think there were better bets available there. Brennan, or Ben King looks like an interesting overager. Wagner and Dom Longname look good for where they were taken, but at that point it really doesn't matter much.

But Lambert looks like wasting the best piece we got for Copp. And Brown is what we got for Smith. Its like Chevy wants to prove that selling at the TD is bad value. SMH

Ah geez Mort, here I am trying to bask in the glow of ignorant hope and enthusiasm and you have to go and introduce a level of logic. Lol

I'm going to call this draft a win for now, follow their development and then throw them all down the well when they bust.

The Brown pick was... odd, but the phone chat with McGroarty put a smile on my face. I will take those days from my Jets team when they come.

 

[kylbaz]

Rinzel, Chesley and Luneau were all available. They all have top 2 potential, even if they project as more likely 2nd pair. All were ranked around the same place as McGroarty. Centres Ostlund, Gaucher, Bystedt and Kulich were also still there. McGroarty may be just as good a pick and as much a C as them.

I'm not nearly as unhappy with McGroarty as I am with Lambert. McGroarty's skating is not that bad and he is working on it. I hope he is more gritty, like a Lowry, than dirty like a Tkachuk. He could replace Lowry at 3C in a few years or become a good power winger.

Lambert just has way too many red flags. I would not have touched him. Father issues, attitude issues and regressing from D-1 to draft year is a terrible look. We can hope that falling all the way to 30 was the kick in the nads this kid needed but if not, he has bust written all over him.

If we had taken McGroarty at 14 and then Luneau or Chesley at 30 I'd have been fairly happy with this draft. I like Salomonsen and Zhilkin well enough where they were taken. Brown is a strange pick. I think there were better bets available there. Brennan, or Ben King looks like an interesting overager. Wagner and Dom Longname look good for where they were taken, but at that point it really doesn't matter much.

But Lambert looks like wasting the best piece we got for Copp. And Brown is what we got for Smith. Its like Chevy wants to prove that selling at the TD is bad value. SMH

Your red flags on him are mostly rumors. I'll trust our front office's decision over internet rumors. This spot in the draft is a gamble no matter what and you're pretending like there were some sure fire picks over Lambert. Yeah right. This is a gamble no matter who is picked at this spot except this gamble can turn into one of the best players in the draft if things click.

 

[GeorgeJETson]

Rinzel, Chesley and Luneau were all available. They all have top 2 potential, even if they project as more likely 2nd pair. All were ranked around the same place as McGroarty. Centres Ostlund, Gaucher, Bystedt and Kulich were also still there. McGroarty may be just as good a pick and as much a C as them.

I'm not nearly as unhappy with McGroarty as I am with Lambert. McGroarty's skating is not that bad and he is working on it. I hope he is more gritty, like a Lowry, than dirty like a Tkachuk. He could replace Lowry at 3C in a few years or become a good power winger.

Lambert just has way too many red flags. I would not have touched him. Father issues, attitude issues and regressing from D-1 to draft year is a terrible look. We can hope that falling all the way to 30 was the kick in the nads this kid needed but if not, he has bust written all over him.

If we had taken McGroarty at 14 and then Luneau or Chesley at 30 I'd have been fairly happy with this draft. I like Salomonsen and Zhilkin well enough where they were taken. Brown is a strange pick. I think there were better bets available there. Brennan, or Ben King looks like an interesting overager. Wagner and Dom Longname look good for where they were taken, but at that point it really doesn't matter much.

But Lambert looks like wasting the best piece we got for Copp. And Brown is what we got for Smith. Its like Chevy wants to prove that selling at the TD is bad value. SMH

I have to agree with you about grabbing Chelsey. He was my number 2 choice for our pick at 30 (Rinzel was #1, but was already drafted). But what's done is done; just hoping Lambert puts it all together.

If Lambert is a bust and Chelsey turns into a top pairing shutdown D, I will be more than a little ticked

 

[surixon]

Rinzel, Chesley and Luneau were all available. They all have top 2 potential, even if they project as more likely 2nd pair. All were ranked around the same place as McGroarty. Centres Ostlund, Gaucher, Bystedt and Kulich were also still there. McGroarty may be just as good a pick and as much a C as them.

I'm not nearly as unhappy with McGroarty as I am with Lambert. McGroarty's skating is not that bad and he is working on it. I hope he is more gritty, like a Lowry, than dirty like a Tkachuk. He could replace Lowry at 3C in a few years or become a good power winger.

Lambert just has way too many red flags. I would not have touched him. Father issues, attitude issues and regressing from D-1 to draft year is a terrible look. We can hope that falling all the way to 30 was the kick in the nads this kid needed but if not, he has bust written all over him.

If we had taken McGroarty at 14 and then Luneau or Chesley at 30 I'd have been fairly happy with this draft. I like Salomonsen and Zhilkin well enough where they were taken. Brown is a strange pick. I think there were better bets available there. Brennan, or Ben King looks like an interesting overager. Wagner and Dom Longname look good for where they were taken, but at that point it really doesn't matter much.

But Lambert looks like wasting the best piece we got for Copp. And Brown is what we got for Smith. Its like Chevy wants to prove that selling at the TD is bad value. SMH

I don't really see any of those that you listed having a shot at a top pairing role. But I wouldn't have been opposed to any of then either.

I'm not much of a Lambert fan but I understand taking the risk there. I have been on this org for playing things too safe at times So im not going to get on them for taking a chance on a player who has the tools to be a star. Sure there are a number of red flags but sometimes you juat have to take the chance.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

Uhhh … didn’t both of those guys go to back to Finland after their draft year?

KV went back to Finland several times. Ville went back during the Covid seasons but also played in both the AHL and NHL those seasons.

 

[gojetsgo]

Rinzel, Chesley and Luneau were all available. They all have top 2 potential, even if they project as more likely 2nd pair. All were ranked around the same place as McGroarty. Centres Ostlund, Gaucher, Bystedt and Kulich were also still there. McGroarty may be just as good a pick and as much a C as them.

I'm not nearly as unhappy with McGroarty as I am with Lambert. McGroarty's skating is not that bad and he is working on it. I hope he is more gritty, like a Lowry, than dirty like a Tkachuk. He could replace Lowry at 3C in a few years or become a good power winger.

Lambert just has way too many red flags. I would not have touched him. Father issues, attitude issues and regressing from D-1 to draft year is a terrible look. We can hope that falling all the way to 30 was the kick in the nads this kid needed but if not, he has bust written all over him.

If we had taken McGroarty at 14 and then Luneau or Chesley at 30 I'd have been fairly happy with this draft. I like Salomonsen and Zhilkin well enough where they were taken. Brown is a strange pick. I think there were better bets available there. Brennan, or Ben King looks like an interesting overager. Wagner and Dom Longname look good for where they were taken, but at that point it really doesn't matter much.

But Lambert looks like wasting the best piece we got for Copp. And Brown is what we got for Smith. Its like Chevy wants to prove that selling at the TD is bad value. SMH

we got out of the ltir headache and a 4th for a player that wasn't going to sign here that is very good value...

 

[Fintastic]

JYP fan here. What can I say about Brad? First of all, he is a high risk - high reward draft pick. He has a lot of skill but he has a lot of weaknesses as well. He is tremendous skater, has above average stickhandling skills, his shot is below average unfortunately. His hockey IQ needs improvement. As a junior he used to dominate with his speed and skills to handle to puck at high speed. He played with his strenghts, He was very offensively minded player and his defensive game was ok at best.

What I don't agree what has been written here that it was mistake for him to come to JYP. His first mistake was going to HIFK because, as rumor goes, the Pelicans would not want to give him ice time with their mens Liiga team. He showed then he would not have to patience to develop and fight for his place in that team. He did that again when he left from HIFK and again when he left from JYP to go back home to Lahti. I was dissapponted with that decision when he had just shown some promise with his game getting better. If his shot were better, his numbers would have been a lot better. Now, about his time with JYP. He came here and played very well the first exhibition games but when Liiga started, he was only ok. He showed he had skills offensively but defensively it was not below average even at Liiga level. His shot was what hindered him the most but also he lack of passing. We have to remember than in his first season, COVID made an impact. JYP laid off their coaching (head coach and first assistand coach) and I have to admit that this took a toll on Brad's development. To be fair, JYP had had some poor head coaching selections earlier and his first head coach in JYP was no different. That season JYP was a mess and it was the main reason why JYP finished last. The first and only time in its history. The second season started a lot better but then the team had a bad spell of injuries. The coaching was changed yet again. JYP appointed Juha Ahvenjärvi who was known as a young player developer and very good at that but he wasn't very good tactically. Naturally this affected the teams play. I would argue Brad developed nicely with his skills but it wasn't easy for him to play for number of reasons. One, his line mates kept changing so the line would not develop a good chemistry. Second, for some time he was played as a center which is really not the best position for him. The rumor was that Ross Lambert wanted him to play as a center because it would be beneficial for him to be listed as center for the draft. A very dumb move. As a winger, he can play with his strenghts. That is one of the reasons why he was considered a top prospect of his draft class at one point. As a center he had to play with his weaknesses. He is below average at face offs, well below average defensively and he can't read the play well defensively. During the second season, he was on the same team as the Nashville first pick, Joakim Kemell. Lambert switched to Lahti while Kemell was picked as the rookie of the year last season.

During this off season Ahvenjärvi told in a podcast where he was interviewed, that he liked Brad very much and that he is very talented as hockey player but he really needs to learn from the defeats and not throw a temper tantrums which he apparently did sometimes when the team kept losing.

I think the right thing for him, in my opinion, is to go to WHL, get his confidence back by playing as winger with his strenghts and concentrate developing his game over there. I like the kid. He seems fun to be around when things go well. I hope he can get better when things don't go his way. The kid hates to lose but he really needs to control his mind better and learn from those times rather than whining and keep looking for a greener grass, Fight for your place, get better rather than run away. Anyway, that was my two cents.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

A "more talented Burmistrov" is probably his floor and that is a risk worth taking at #30. There are controllable factors that elevate that floor, however. Atlanta mismanaged Burmi's development by rushing him into the NHL and there were almost certainly cultural factors at play that made Burmi's adaptation to the NHL more difficult.

On the other hand, Lambert's ceiling is very high. A year in the CHL to regain his confidence and another on the Moose to transition to the NHL should do wonders.

Don't know how much he will score at the upcoming World Juniors but his tremendous skill set will be very evident as soon as he steps on the ice. That should allay a lot of fears.

I am pretty much ignoring all the noise about his last year in Finland and all the conflict with his father. It won't be a factor going forward and the postings have the same bad vibe as the early Laine days. Not interested in the least.

Its only a risk worth taking at #30, or any other number, if there was no better choice available. There were better choices available.

 

[DRW204]

does lambert play with any sort of bite or physicality?

he has speed, size, skill.... seems like not good enough IQ to be a C notably defensively. on the Wing if he is just average defensively imo that's fine. can he be sort of miles wood-esque in terms of style (im a bit bias im a fan of Woods'). listed at 6'2 200, speed for days, can throw the body (and scrap), and still give you 15-20 goals in bottom-6 mins/ <15 mins a night. it looks like Lambert does have better, or more confidence in his puck skills/or stick-handling though.

 

[FlappyGiraffe]

I'd have to agree with Fintastic on Lambert's shot, it was one thing that stood out to me as being flat out bad when I checked out some of his highlights.

Good news is that a weak shot was the biggest knock on McDavid, who seems to be similar player to Lambert toolset wise (he's on another planet mentally). And he was able to sort that out in pretty much one offseason, so hopefully the Jets can get him going on improving that asap.

 

[Ippenator]

Did you even watch the video? I'm guessing not because it's not 'advanced team stats' in the traditional sense. It tracks actual plays and breaks them down when he was on the ice.

It also wasn't some fanboy excuse video, it was very unbiased and analytical, and it revealed some of the shortcomings in his game as well.

Maybe try watching the video. It seems to me as if you got defensive because someone said something negative about the Pelicans.

Oh, and Pelicans are in fact an irrelevant team for me in Liiga. I’m a fan of Ilves from Tampere and have no connections or love with Pelicans or Lahti, the city that Pelicans are from.

I just extremely dislike it if a player I have been following a lot gets a lot of praise and hype when he has done absolutely nothing to deserve it. The only things he has done so far is skate fast, score one season quite well points in junior A SM-sarja and score some points against two weakish junior opponents (Germany and Austria) at the cancelled U20 WJC tournament at the end of last year. Otherwise the kid has done jackcrap and has been playing worse and worse in Liiga games for the last two years.

Sure, I will be happy as anyone of you here, if he will turn it around and becomes a great player after all. But nothing has really happened so far for me to say anything positive about his play - except that he is a great skater, and he can be helpful in transition play. Unfortunately he ruines that positive part of his game with everything negative in his game. He has been a clearly more harmful player than useful player so far in Liiga.

 

[Fintastic]

does lambert play with any sort of bite or physicality?

he has speed, size, skill.... seems like not good enough IQ to be a C notably defensively. on the Wing if he is just average defensively imo that's fine. can he be sort of miles wood-esque in terms of style (im a bit bias im a fan of Woods'). listed at 6'2 200, speed for days, can throw the body (and scrap), and still give you 15-20 goals in bottom-6 mins/ <15 mins a night. it looks like Lambert does have better, or more confidence in his puck skills/or stick-handling though.

In my opinion he has. He can hit an opponent surpsingly cleanly considering he isn't the most disciplined player out there. He isn't a pushover either when it comes to one on one plays offensively nor defensily. I think his main weakness defensively is that he doesn't play disiciplined game as he, my guess, is always thinks getting the puck and go on offence. He doesn't position himself properly nor sometimes be in the moment without the puck.

 

[ps241]

Tends to happen with players that are excellent skaters and have good hands, but not so good hockey IQ. It’s possible to dominate with the combination of great skating and good hands or the combination of size and relatively good skating, but with average or even below average hockey IQ, when you are still playing against junior players. Lower hockey IQ players like this get exposed when they play against adults with speed, strength and much better and more structured defending.

I’m not saying that he can’t become an ok NHL player with the right kind of guidance and coaching, but he will need to understand that he most probably will never be a true star player or even a 1st liner, which will likely mean that he needs to be humble enough to accept a less offensive role and use his skating gift in the way that he can help his team the best. Probably in more a forechecking role and even PK role (when he improves his defensive play and attitude).

I just find it very unlikely that he will ever be a really efficient offensive player at the NHL level. Well, I guess miracles can still happen, and I will for sure be happy for him and the Jets, if it after all happens in his case, that he finds the intelligent way to play offensive hockey.

The fact pretty much every team laid off him in the 1st round would indicate you aren’t alone. Jets have had low IQ players before with great tools in Bogosian, Kane, And to a lesser extend Burmi and KVes. Kane was able to do well without the IQ the other 3 all underperformed vs expectations.

I place allot of weight on IQ. I am ok with average IQ but I would probably not draft any Player with a “low” hockey IQ but that’s just me.

Either way I’ll be cheering for the kid.

 

[DRW204]

In my opinion he has. He can hit an opponent surpsingly cleanly considering he isn't the most disciplined player out there. He isn't a pushover either when it comes to one on one plays offensively nor defensily. I think his main weakness defensively is that he doesn't play disiciplined game as he, my guess, is always thinks getting the puck and go on offence. He doesn't position himself properly nor sometimes be in the moment without the puck.

he's listed at 6'1 183 lb as an 18 year old. he'll probably put on a bit more muscle and fill out naturally as he ages. it seems like he's moreso in the mold of players like wood or anthanasiou, burners on the wing with some size & could put the puck in the net. Wood has a bit more bite/physicality to his game, AA was more puck-skills/stick-handling... i know AA's case he could never be a center b/c of his defensive game and at least early on would cheat for offense. on the wing his game translated a bit better paired with a C a bit more sound defensively, or a group of players that can get him the puck efficiently in transition.

 

[GeorgeJETson]

he's listed at 6'1 183 lb as an 18 year old. he'll probably put on a bit more muscle and fill out naturally as he ages. it seems like he's moreso in the mold of players like wood or anthanasiou, burners on the wing with some size & could put the puck in the net. Wood has a bit more bite/physicality to his game, AA was more puck-skills/stick-handling... i know AA's case he could never be a center b/c of his defensive game and at least early on would cheat for offense. on the wing his game translated a bit better with a C a bit more sound defensively.

I'm hoping Lambert and McGroarty both can become NHL players, because a line of Perfetti-McGroarty-Lambert has the makings of a pretty good line.

 

[Thechozen1]

Rinzel, Chesley and Luneau were all available. They all have top 2 potential, even if they project as more likely 2nd pair. All were ranked around the same place as McGroarty. Centres Ostlund, Gaucher, Bystedt and Kulich were also still there. McGroarty may be just as good a pick and as much a C as them.

I'm not nearly as unhappy with McGroarty as I am with Lambert. McGroarty's skating is not that bad and he is working on it. I hope he is more gritty, like a Lowry, than dirty like a Tkachuk. He could replace Lowry at 3C in a few years or become a good power winger.

Lambert just has way too many red flags. I would not have touched him. Father issues, attitude issues and regressing from D-1 to draft year is a terrible look. We can hope that falling all the way to 30 was the kick in the nads this kid needed but if not, he has bust written all over him.

If we had taken McGroarty at 14 and then Luneau or Chesley at 30 I'd have been fairly happy with this draft. I like Salomonsen and Zhilkin well enough where they were taken. Brown is a strange pick. I think there were better bets available there. Brennan, or Ben King looks like an interesting overager. Wagner and Dom Longname look good for where they were taken, but at that point it really doesn't matter much.

But Lambert looks like wasting the best piece we got for Copp. And Brown is what we got for Smith. Its like Chevy wants to prove that selling at the TD is bad value. SMH

This is how I feel. McGroarty was my guy for a long time prior to the draft with the expectation that players like Savoie and Nazar would be gone by 14. I probably would have gone Nazar based on shear offensive upside if Chicago didn’t take him, but I would have been torn because I do really like McGroarty.

Agreed that I would have gone with one of the defenseman at 30, preferably Chesley. I would have been absolutely stoked!!!! Instead I was left disappointed because I knew the defensemen I wanted wouldn’t be there at 55

The way the rest of the Jets picks played out aside from Brown, I am more than good with.

I hope I’m proven wrong on Lambert and wish him success, just not a gamble I wanted to take. I am warming up to him albeit with fingers majorly crossed.

 

[Rengorlex]

I'd have to agree with Fintastic on Lambert's shot, it was one thing that stood out to me as being flat out bad when I checked out some of his highlights.

Good news is that a weak shot was the biggest knock on McDavid, who seems to be similar player to Lambert toolset wise (he's on another planet mentally). And he was able to sort that out in pretty much one offseason, so hopefully the Jets can get him going on improving that asap.

Lambert struggles finding shooting lanes and doesn't deceive his intentions, making it easy for defenders to block his shot attempts. He simply lacks the offensive qualities both in terms of scoring and playmaking despite having an elite skillset.

 

[Thechozen1]

I have to agree with you about grabbing Chelsey. He was my number 2 choice for our pick at 30 (Rinzel was #1, but was already drafted). But what's done is done; just hoping Lambert puts it all together.

If Lambert is a bust and Chelsey turns into a top pairing shutdown D, I will be more than a little ticked

I see Chesley as a Brett Pesce type and yeah if he hits and Lambert ends up being an Athanasiou type then that’s big miss for the Jets.

Capitals have now landed a defense prospect two years in a row that I wanted for the Jets. Last year was Vincent Iorio.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

So what’s the deal with Lambert that has resulted in people endlessly trashing him on our board? This is the reverse-Laine where we had to put up with people clogging up our threads talking about how great Laine is and how badly the Jets were misusing him. But now we’re getting the opposite with Lambert. Is he secretly Swedish, or something?

Kids usually take a big step forward from D-1 to D. Lambert did the opposite. What more do you need?

 

[Duke749]

I see Chesley as a Brett Pesce type and yeah if he hits and Lambert ends up being an Athanasiou type then that’s big miss for the Jets.

Capitals have now landed a defense prospect two years in a row that I wanted for the Jets. Last year was Vincent Iorio.

Well if Chesley works out, a bunch of other teams will be kicking themselves too. Not just us. But if teams really though he had top pairing potential, he would have been gone far far earlier.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

31 teams stayed away from him in the Draft .
We took him as he is talented but has he got possibly some of Dads genetics and we will never get him in the correct path.
We are taking that gamble.

I don't like the gamble. I don't like that we passed on some promising RHD that we need very badly to take him.

But he is ours now and I will be cheering for him. Hope his troubles were ALL dad caused. Though I am cheering for him, I remain skeptical of the pick until he justifies it.

At least he is a RHS who can skate.

 

[Duke749]

So what’s the deal with Lambert that has resulted in people endlessly trashing him on our board? This is the reverse-Laine where we had to put up with people clogging up our threads talking about how great Laine is and how badly the Jets were misusing him. But now we’re getting the opposite with Lambert. Is he secretly Swedish, or something?

He’s being over analyzed at this point. Although every player at this point in the draft can be and typically is. That’s why they drop. There’s also the strong want for some D in our prospect pool by the fans. Some for need, some feel they were better picks. Although saying a guy who is a borderline first rounder, has top pairing potential is a stretch.

 

[Thechozen1]

Well if Chesley works out, a bunch of other teams will be kicking themselves too. Not just us. But if teams really though he had top pairing potential, he would have been gone far far earlier.

I don’t really care who other teams pass on. Not saying he’s a sure thing to be a top pairing guy, but I do see a very solid top 4 minute munching defensive defenseman who has untapped offense in his skill set.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

I haven't seen any scouts say Chesley, Luneau or Rinzel have top pair potential. I think Luneau specifically ends up as a low end 2nd pair or more likely a 3rd based on what we know right now.

You have to swing at Lambert at 30, especially as it was the 2nd first rounder you have, and given how shallow the draft was, taking a potential 30-40 goal player at the back end of the 1st is an easy decision.

I think he comes over to Seattle this season, after playing very well in the World Juniors next month, and teams regret passing him over.

As for Smith, the fact that we got anything for a player who said he's definitely not signing here is a bonus.

I didn't say they projected to top pair. They may project to 2nd pair. But any 18 YO D who projects 2nd pair has 1st pair upside. We see 4th and 5th rd Dmen make it to the top pairing fairly often.

Being our 2nd 1st rounder couldn't possibly be less relevant. It is when you have extra high picks that you have the chance to gain ground. That is not the time to start playing fast and loose.

This draft was not shallow. It lacked top end star power. If anything, it was deep. Thinking a decision is easy is the template for making bad decisions. We need hits. We don't need to go down swinging. We have real needs. We can't afford to be gambling. If we had a solid roster and a solid prospect pool we could afford to gamble. We are nowhere near that kind of situation.

We got a bonus for a player who was not going to sign here - so you think it is a good idea to throw it away?