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

[MardyBum]

Good debate here. Points on both sides. But I take 241's point that Lambert played against men and failed. Give him 1 year in the dub and then send him to the Moose.

Played against men last year and succeeded?

Lets see how his summer goes. Both are good options and have positives and negatives. They have a WJC, Youngstars Tourney and training camp to decide.

 

[Ippenator]

He shouldn't have been playing pro hockey. He should have been in Juniors the entire time. In fact I think his camp made a huge mistake staying in Finland. If he came over to the WHL, I bet he is a top 10 pick

I would agree if his problems were with physicality. But they weren’t, they were purely with reading the game. If he learns to just play against juniors how is it going to help him do well in the NHL? He had all the physical tools to do well in Liiga. Players with much less physical talent have done ton loads better than Lambert last season, and they have been even a year younger, like for example Barkov or Laine. Or Aho at the same age that Lambert was last season.

They had the hockey IQ to do well with the tighter defending. If Lambert can’t really deal with that with the exceptional skating and good hands, what use are those great tools in the end?

 

[Ippenator]

The Jets would've picked Kemell over Lambert at 30 if both were there, I'm sure.

I'm curious as to why you've returned to the Jets board after being mostly absent since the Laine trade to continously argue how much this guy sucks. What is it about Lambert that makes you so vociferous about how poor of a prospect he is?

What's wrong with Lambert? A mix of his own choices and the usage of the player. I'd like to see him in a different environment before judging whether something is seriously wrong about him.

Low hockey IQ is what is wrong with him, and also he has bad attitude. I very much dislike low IQ players that use either skating, dangling or pure strength to do something on the ice. I have been giving the similar kind of comments on Finnish players like Puljujärvi or Kapanen, as they both are these low IQ players with good or even great skating.

I have been reading the Jets Forum quite a lot still. There just hasn’t been much of players that I have had strong opinions about, so there wasn’t much of reasons to take part in discussions. But I watch quite a lot the Jets playing and I’m now more interested in the team again, as Maurice is finally out. Not very happy about Bowness being chosen as the next coach, but I do like him at least more than Maurice.

 

[Buffdog]

Would it be possible for Lambert to split the year between WHL and AHL?

 

[Joe Hallenback]

I would agree if his problems were with physicality. But they weren’t, they were purely with reading the game. If he learns to just play against juniors how is it going to help him do well in the NHL? He had all the physical tools to do well in Liiga. Players with much less physical talent have done ton loads better than Lambert last season, and they have been even a year younger, like for example Barkov or Laine. Or Aho at the same age that Lambert was last season.

They had the hockey IQ to do well with the tighter defending. If Lambert can’t really deal with that with the exceptional skating and good hands, what use are those great tools in the end?

Guys are all different. Guys like him need to play against peers to develop confidence and to gain physical traits needed later. It also gives him time to mature where he really needs it, mentally. Whatever issues he is reported to have with his father should be smoothed out as he becomes his own person.

That is why I think he needs to come back and go to Seattle and play with a very good team and dominate for a year.

 

[tbcwpg]

Low hockey IQ is what is wrong with him, and also he has bad attitude. I have been reading the Jets Forum quite a lot still. There just hasn’t been much of players that I have had strong opinions about, so there wasn’t much of reasons to take part in discussions. But I watch quite a lot the Jets playing and I’m now more interested in the team again, as Maurice is finally out. Not very happy about Bowness being chosen as the next coach, but I do like him at least more than Maurice.

Bad attitude was a discussion point about Laine in 2016 as well. Didn't he tell a coach he was going to kill him or something similar to that? As for hockey IQ, other scouting reports put him as average amongst his peers in the draft.

I think Lambert is a kid pushed into a men's league and under pressure to produce beyond his abilities and physical tools, which can partly explain the attitude issues.

I don't expect Lambert to be as impactful as a player like Rantanen, or Laine, or even a Kemell or Lundell, but I think he has enough in him to be a regular scoring threat on an NHL second line if he is developed properly, and I think a lot of that comes down to playing in North America next season and getting out of an environment that is not working for him personally.

 

[ps241]

Don't know if anyone else answered your earlier inquiry, but the odds of drafting an impact player at #30 are higher than 1 in 5. The graph below is "smoothed out", showing a probability of ~40%, but looking at yearly data there are actually wide confidence intervals. In Lambert's case, the floor to ceiling range is even higher, so there is no real point in trying to put a number to it.

The middle of the second round is where the curve starts to flatten toward your 20% probability range.


View attachment 567246

Here is an analysis using 100 games

NHL Draft Pick Probabilities

Whenever an NHL draft is approaching, the excitement level and hype around the players go through the roof. It’s an exciting time for sure but it seems like most people don’t have realistic expectations when it comes to the draft. To help with that, I decided to

dobberprospects.com

Perfect! Thanks for clarifying

Don't know if anyone else answered your earlier inquiry, but the odds of drafting an impact player at #30 are higher than 1 in 5. The graph below is "smoothed out", showing a probability of ~40%, but looking at yearly data there are actually wide confidence intervals. In Lambert's case, the floor to ceiling range is even higher, so there is no real point in trying to put a number to it.

The middle of the second round is where the curve starts to flatten toward your 20% probability range.


View attachment 567246

Here is an analysis using 100 games

NHL Draft Pick Probabilities

Whenever an NHL draft is approaching, the excitement level and hype around the players go through the roof. It’s an exciting time for sure but it seems like most people don’t have realistic expectations when it comes to the draft. To help with that, I decided to

dobberprospects.com

Love it!! Thanks very much, it appears I need to recalibrate.

 

[snowkiddin]

I like to think the Lambert that we could get is the guy that was leading his team in scoring at the World juniors. Granted it was 2 games but he looked really good against his peers

I remember watching him at the empty arena world juniors and thinking there was a star in the making there.

He was on my do not draft list for the reasons we’ve discussed ad nauseam, but we have him now, let’s hope he becomes the player I thought he would be.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

I had interest in Lambert and am ecstatic the Jets selected him. We can all 'fan' in our own way.

Yup.

 

[Joe Hallenback]

Bad attitude was a discussion point about Laine in 2016 as well. Didn't he tell a coach he was going to kill him or something similar to that? As for hockey IQ, other scouting reports put him as average amongst his peers in the draft.

I think Lambert is a kid pushed into a men's league and under pressure to produce beyond his abilities and physical tools, which can partly explain the attitude issues.

I don't expect Lambert to be as impactful as a player like Rantanen, or Laine, or even a Kemell or Lundell, but I think he has enough in him to be a regular scoring threat on an NHL second line if he is developed properly, and I think a lot of that comes down to playing in North America next season and getting out of an environment that is not working for him personally.

I like to think he could be play making winger on the 2nd line sometime in the future. Play with guys like Lucius and Mcgroarty who thrive getting the puck and going to the net with it. He can play the perimeter with guys like that and move the puck out of the zone. A poor man's Ehlers

 

[Ippenator]

Guys are all different. Guys like him need to play against peers to develop confidence and to gain physical traits needed later. It also gives him time to mature where he really needs it, mentally. Whatever issues he is reported to have with his father should be smoothed out as he becomes his own person.

That is why I think he needs to come back and go to Seattle and play with a very good team and dominate for a year.

I think his problem is still the below average (or maybe at best average hockey IQ). Nothing will completely help with that. Ok, he can get a bit better with it with experience, but you either have it or you don’t. From the first time I saw for example Sebastian Aho play, I right away thought that this kid has great hockey IQ and vision and that he will go really far one day. That was the time when he was 17 years old, and he wasn’t even very much appreciated by most of the scouts, as they thought he was physically too weak and also his skating wasn’t even close to the level that it is now. To me it was obvious already then that he had something special. The same could be seen about Barkov and Laine (although Laine’s weak physique was a question mark always).

I haven’t seen anything even close to that in Lambert’s play. When he dominates it happens against juniors and purely with using his skating speed advantage against poorly defending opponents. He can’t do anything like that against the well defending adults.

As I have said before, I can see him being at some point a succesful NHL player, I just don’t see it happening in an offensive role and definitely not as a 1st line star player. If he manages to fix his attitude and understand how he can be the best use with his talents, he will most likely be an excellent forechecker and maybe even a very good PK player at some point. I’m just thinking of what I see as realistic.

 

[B33R LEAGUE]

Low hockey IQ is what is wrong with him, and also he has bad attitude. I very much dislike low IQ players that use either skating, dangling or pure strength to do something on the ice. I have been giving the similar kind of comments on Finnish players like Puljujärvi or Kapanen, as they both are these low IQ players with good pr even great skating.

I have been reading the Jets Forum quite a lot still. There just hasn’t been much of players that I have had strong opinions about, so there wasn’t much of reasons to take part in discussions. But I watch quite a lot the Jets playing and I’m now more interested in the team again, as Maurice is finally out. Not very happy about Bowness being chosen as the next coach, but I do like him at least more than Maurice.

Im still of the opinion that Hockey IQ can be improved by quality coaching and good systems. Attitudes change with age too.

Time will tell, but one things for sure, this kid has all the athletic tools to be effective if he's coachable.

I hope this is the case.

 

[GCn07]

FWIW
Lambert was 14th among F in scoring on his team. 9 Dmen on that team outscored him.

I don't think there is any dobt that playing in a men's professional league hindered him. He should not have been there. It was a mistake. However, to write off a 17 year old because he didn't excel in professional hockey against men doesn't make sense to me. Had he busted in WHL, OK...different conversation.

Im still of the opinion that Hockey IQ can be improved by quality coaching and good systems. Attitudes change with age too.

Time will tell, but one things for sure, this kid has all the athletic tools to be effective if he's coachable.

I hope this is the case.

I have not ever seen a player whose hockey IQ topped out at age 17. Such a stupid expectation imo. Young players can be coached. Some, like Perfetti, have a natural high hockey IQ, but for the most part guys being drafted this week will be far different along that scale with proper development. The main complaints I see from the Finnish insiders, and others, is that he wasn't ready at age 17 to play pro and that his game is not pro ready yet. Sounds like every other 17 year old, except a very few, really.

 

[GCn07]

I think his problem is still the below average (or maybe at best average hockey IQ). Nothing will completely help with that. Ok, he can get a bit better with it with experience, but you either have it or you don’t. From the first time I saw for example Sebastian Aho play, I right away thought that this kid has great hockey IQ and vision and that he will go really far one day. That was the time when he was 17 years old, and he wasn’t even very much appreciated by most of the scouts, as they thought he was physically too weak and also his skating wasn’t even close to the level that it is now. To me it was obvious already then that he had something special. The same could be seen about Barkov and Laine (although Laine’s weak physique was a question mark always).

I haven’t seen anything even close to that in Lambert’s play. When he dominates it happens against juniors and purely with using his skating speed advantage against poorly defending opponents. He can’t do anything like that against the well defending adults.

As I have said before, I can see him being at some point a succesful NHL player, I just don’t see it happening in an offensive role and definitely not as a 1st line star player. If he manages to fix his attitude and understand how he can be the best use with his talents, he will most likely be an excellent forechecker and maybe even a very good PK player at some point. I’m just thinking of what I see as realistic.

I don't agree with that premise at all. Some players are Aho's, Barkov's, and Laine's and dominate right away. Some aren't and need development but turn out to be fantastic players none the less. If he eventually turns into a 2C for us, that would make him a huge steal at 30. I don't think anyone here has the expectation that he is the next Aho.

 

[EpicGingy]

Would Lambert be able to be assigned to the AHL next year if he goes to Seattle this year since he was drafted out of Liiga, or does going to the CHL for any amount of time make him ineligible for the AHL until he's 20?

CHL this year to AHL next year could be a good path for him if it's allowed.

 

[Jet]

Guys are all different. Guys like him need to play against peers to develop confidence and to gain physical traits needed later. It also gives him time to mature where he really needs it, mentally. Whatever issues he is reported to have with his father should be smoothed out as he becomes his own person.

That is why I think he needs to come back and go to Seattle and play with a very good team and dominate for a year.

I don't know why people expect every human to develop in a linear way. Some players are well prepared to make the step from junior to pro, and understand that it is a far more structured game, against men who are bigger, stronger, and more mentally developed.

Some players are so successful at every level in their career they think they will just jump into one of those leagues and dominate. I get the feeling that Brad is in this category.

Likely his confidence and ego have been bruised with this experience. The big question is, how will he bounce back, and did he learn the lesson?

If he did, and he goes back to junior, he will use that time to regain his confidence and work on the notes he's surely received. Then he can jump into the AHL better prepared for that huge jump up.

 

[GCn07]

Guys are all different. Guys like him need to play against peers to develop confidence and to gain physical traits needed later. It also gives him time to mature where he really needs it, mentally. Whatever issues he is reported to have with his father should be smoothed out as he becomes his own person.

That is why I think he needs to come back and go to Seattle and play with a very good team and dominate for a year.

I totally agree with your assessment. He is a 30 overall, and the knock against him is that he can only dominate players his own age. Sounds like 95% of the guys taken ahead of him who have only proven the same ability. He is being crucified for going pro far earlier than he should have and it is somewhat unfair to him, but good for the Jets, that this hurt his stock. If I'm at 30 and there is a guy available that is dominant among his peers...I think that's a good pick to make.

I don't know why people expect every human to develop in a linear way. Some players are well prepared to make the step from junior to pro, and understand that it is a far more structured game, against men who are bigger, stronger, and more mentally developed.

Some players are so successful at every level in their career they think they will just jump into one of those leagues and dominate. I get the feeling that Brad is in this category.

Likely his confidence and ego have been bruised with this experience. The big question is, how will he bounce back, and did he learn the lesson?

If he did, and he goes back to junior, he will use that time to regain his confidence and work on the notes he's surely received. Then he can jump into the AHL better prepared for that huge jump up.

I agree. The only issue with his development could be mental and work ethic. Everything else can be coached up. A good place for him to start is to go to Seattle and put up 130 points and have some fun.

 

[scelaton]

200 NHL games played isn't an impact player. 30% here includes a lot of journeymen and bottom pair/4th line players who are available every year for league minimum salary in free agency. Your chance to get a player who actually makes a difference is much smaller.

It's semantics. The median career of NHL players is ~ 175 games, so 200 games played is well into the top half of all players and a threshold used by many to separate impactful from non-impactful.

Eg, has Adam Lowry had an impactful NHL career? Most would say yes; he is not a star but has had a meaningful impact, far more than the many second and third-rounders we have chosen, who have never had more than a cup of coffee.

 

[gojetsgo]

 

[jimsabo21]

Success in European Pro Leagues (vs men) as teenagers is rare. Be it the KHL, SHL or Liiga. Here is how other 2022 First Round selections did vs men in pro leagues over the winter.

Slafkovsky (1st overall):
Liiga - 31GP - 5G, 5A - 10pts

Kasper (8th overall)
SHL - 46GP - 7G, 4A - 11pts

Lekkerimaki - (15th overall)
SHL - 26GP - 7G, 2A - 9pts

Ostlund (16th overall)
SHL - 11GP - 0G, 0A - 0 pts

Kemell (17th overall)
Liiga - 39GP - 15G, 8A - 23pts

Ohgren (19th overall)
SHL - 25GP, 1G, 1A - 2pts

Yurov (22nd overall)
KHL - 21GP, 0G, 0A - 0 pts
*very low ice time

Bystedt (27th overall)
SHL - 15 GP, 1G, 1A - 2pts

Lambert (30th overall)
Liiga - 49GP - 4G, 6A - 10pts

Aside from Kemell (who had a crazy hot start), I don't see any teenagers from this draft class tearing up their pro leagues. Lambert is just getting ripped because more was expected from him than the others - but he had similar production to Kasper who's considered a draft darling.

 

[ps241]

I don't know why people expect every human to develop in a linear way. Some players are well prepared to make the step from junior to pro, and understand that it is a far more structured game, against men who are bigger, stronger, and more mentally developed.

Some players are so successful at every level in their career they think they will just jump into one of those leagues and dominate. I get the feeling that Brad is in this category.

Likely his confidence and ego have been bruised with this experience. The big question is, how will he bounce back, and did he learn the lesson?

If he did, and he goes back to junior, he will use that time to regain his confidence and work on the notes he's surely received. Then he can jump into the AHL better prepared for that huge jump up.

Yea each guy has had their own path

Scheif 2 years in the CHL after his draft
Trouba 1 year of NCAA after draft
Morrissey 2 year CHL 1 year AHL
Ehlers 1 year CHL
Connor 1 year NCAA 1 year AHL
Roslo 1 year NCAA 2 years AHL
Laine strait to the NHL
Stanley 2 seasons CHL 2 seasons AHL
KVes Europe and AHL (?)
Perfetti 1.5 seasons of the AHL (due to Covid).
McGroarty NCAA


Lambert TBD

 

[nobody imp0rtant]

Rutger's girlfriend is pretty cute.

 

[Monkey D Luffy]

*edit this was already posted

So am i missing something or was Brad's "bad season" overblown?

Slafkosky 31 GP 5 G 5 A 10 PTS

Lambert 49 GP 4 G 6 A 10 PTS

Obviously played 18 more games but I thought it was interesting that one was worth the first overall pick playing wing and the other was 30th playing centre.

Juraj Slafkovsky Hockey Stats and Profile at hockeydb.com

Statistics of Juraj Slafkovsky, a hockey player from Kosice, Slovakia born Mar 30 2004 who was active from 2021 to 2025.

www.hockeydb.com

Brad Lambert (b.2003) Hockey Stats and Profile at hockeydb.com

Statistics of Brad Lambert, a hockey player from Lahti, Finland born Dec 19 2003 who was active from 2019 to 2025.

www.hockeydb.com

 

[boydkc]

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.

If he goes to the WHL he will need to play centre or he will get frustrated.

 

[WiscoJet]

Success in European Pro Leagues (vs men) as teenagers is rare. Be it the KHL, SHL or Liiga. Here is how other 2022 First Round selections did vs men in pro leagues over the winter.

Slafkovsky (1st overall):
Liiga - 31GP - 5G, 5A - 10pts

Kasper (8th overall)
SHL - 46GP - 7G, 4A - 11pts

Lekkerimaki - (15th overall)
SHL - 26GP - 7G, 2A - 9pts

Ostlund (16th overall)
SHL - 11GP - 0G, 0A - 0 pts

Kemell (17th overall)
Liiga - 39GP - 15G, 8A - 23pts

Ohgren (19th overall)
SHL - 25GP, 1G, 1A - 2pts

Yurov (22nd overall)
KHL - 21GP, 0G, 0A - 0 pts
*very low ice time

Bystedt (27th overall)
SHL - 15 GP, 1G, 1A - 2pts

Lambert (30th overall)
Liiga - 49GP - 4G, 6A - 10pts

Aside from Kemell (who had a crazy hot start), I don't see any teenagers from this draft class tearing up their pro leagues. Lambert is just getting ripped because more was expected from him than the others - but he had similar production to Kasper who's considered a draft darling.

Great point, if Slafkovsky was Finnish and not Slovakian he would have not gotten the exposure at the Olympics and World Championship. Props to him though, he really proved himself on some big stages. Similarly Kasper raised his game in the playoffs and got to play for Austria at the WC.

It is a little funny that Brad's 2020-2021 season was better points per game wise than everybody except Lekkerimaki and Kemell's 2021-2022 seasons. Scouts hate players who back-slide and honestly can't say I blame them. Hopefully Brad makes it and becomes a case study.