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

[GeorgeJETson]

... To me, "low hockey IQ" has all the hallmarks of an RPG stat. Need to have a numerical value for everything...

Hopefully we don't start talking about Lambert's Comeliness stat

(Yes, I'm a nerd)

 

[John Agar]

I think he might be the next Gretzky, but with better tools.

Ipp' thinks it's Walter...

 

[snowkiddin]

Having watched with great curiosity Lambert's play and career trajectory in Liiga (and juniors before that) for the last few years, I don't buy this "low hockey IQ" explanation. Or at least I think it alone is a lazy buzzword, and not really that useful in figuring out what, if anything can be done to improve the situation. There are no standard measurements for "low hockey IQ", and nobody has really clarified if it means low intelligence or incapacity to learn or something completely different. Or if it is a skill that can be improved or not. To me, "low hockey IQ" has all the hallmarks of an RPG stat. Need to have a numerical value for everything.

My take on his situation is as follows: he and primarily the people around him have focused solely on the 1OA status from a very early age. That has skewed everything in his development. Individual skills you can train alone are through the roof, whereas the aspects of the game that require team work and reliance on other players are bad for U20 level - perhaps even for U18 level. Not because he cannot learn those skills, but because he has never been taught to prioritize team success over individual skill and accomplishments. Quite the opposite actually. Each team has simply been a stepping stone, best possible option at the time as decided by him and the people around him. It hasn't been about helping the team succeed, but using the team for him to succeed. It's hard enough for an adult to learn such things, but having that imprinted on you from very early age makes the current imbalance easy to understand.

To me, he's a product of a team around him focusing 100% on a single player speed run to 1OA and getting it quite wrong.

Or I could be completely wrong with this

Welcome to the boards there, mate.

Ipp' thinks it's Walter...

I was thinking he’ll be the next Brent Gretzky.

 

[MrT47]

Welcome to the boards there, mate.

Thank you. I've been an avid follower of HFBoards since the active days of Usenet's rec.sport.hockey, but for some reason haven't made an account before. Just goes to show how captivating the story of rise and fall (and hopefully a Phoenix-like rebirth) of Brad Lambert has been among the hockey fans in Finland.

 

[Buffdog]

I'm getting Josh Ho-Sang vibes a little bit. Lots of tools and talent but doesn't quite put it all together and *maybe* has some off ice personality/character issues to work though.

 

[ChicagoBullsFan]

One more red flag we can try to pretend doesnt exist. But it exists...

That's why i would guess that if Jets wants to have good development process for Brad
the key to have it succesfull is to keep Ross ''mr smartass'' Lambert out of all decision making.

Jets should also help for Brad to found agent who knows his job
and won't listen or take any shit for Ross Lambert or anyone-else outsider.

That Ross Lambert basically is Brad's agent is so rotten as it ever can be.
If Jets allow that circus what Ross Lambert has done last 2 yrs going any further
then it is totally doomed to end massive failure.

I'm getting Josh Ho-Sang vibes a little bit. Lots of tools and talent but doesn't quite put it all together and *maybe* has some off ice personality/character issues to work though.

You're not only unfortunately.

 

[hockeyarena]

I'm getting Josh Ho-Sang vibes a little bit. Lots of tools and talent but doesn't quite put it all together and *maybe* has some off ice personality/character issues to work though.

i get those vibes from Isaac Howard. Kid is a complete clown.

 

[BigZ65]

I hate this particular tournament for judging anyone negatively.

These junior national programs tend to be kind of toxic, and we know that's been the case for the Finns more often than not.

These tournaments highlight guys who have one elite skill, like a great shot, or stickhandling (Petan) or guys that are just solid system players (7-8 Canadian forwards every year), fly up and down the wing, play the structure. There's not a lot of want for guys to flash skill 5-on-5. The top players in this tourney rarely turn into top NHLers.

But I think there's a reasonable worry about how Lambert fits in to any team. Might come down to the guy maturing to the point where he can shut the outside noise off and tell certain people in his life to find their role, get lost.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

just a random thought, not related to ippenators' comment specifically but is it lacking hockey iq or not listening/following coaches direction? I feel like hockey iq needs to be narrowed down the way it is tossed around.

I remember one of our prospects (Green?) was described as uncoachable.

Green could never stay healthy long enough to be coached.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

I'm getting Josh Ho-Sang vibes a little bit. Lots of tools and talent but doesn't quite put it all together and *maybe* has some off ice personality/character issues to work though.

I had the exact same thought.

But he still has plenty of opportunity to come around. We'll see.

 

[Ippenator]

I have a feeling that people like Ipp would be pumping his tires if his name was "Benni Lambkinnen" instead.

Seems to me that you think a bit too much through your feelings. I judge players only by how they play and what kind of things I generally like or dislike in hockey. And what I very much dislike in hockey is people forgetting, that the puck is way faster than any skater. So the real speed that you need to have in your game to be a true star is the speed that you have with your accurate and correct decision making and distributing the puck quickly and smartly through that. And this is what Brad Lambert is simply terrible at.

Fast skating speed can’t save a player and make him a true star, if his decision making is first of all way too slow, and at the same time he even makes mostly terrible decisions. Lambert for sure is as Finnish as anyone else who plays for the Finnish national team, but sadly he is a Finnish player that just sucks with his hockey IQ. He is a mindless speedster, and I honestly dislike those kind of players.

The other type of players I very much dislike are mindless danglers who hang on to the puck and can’t do anything creative and productive with it. Sure they might get great possession stats, but when they can’t produce, they become pretty much useless and also frustrating and boring players to watch. A player like this is very much Kaapo Kakko, who is another Finnish low hockey IQ player, who has definitely got from me the very similar treatment that Lambert has got from me on these boards. And the same goes with the other low hockey IQ Finns like Jesse Puljujärvi and Kasperi Kapanen. They all are players that I dislike despite them being Finnish. They all play dumb and unproductive hockey, so them being Finnish doesn’t mean that I should like them as players. Lambert is just one more name to this unfortunate list of low IQ Finnish NHL players. Thank God the list is at least relatively short. But for sure there’s nothing else behind my attitude towards Lambert and his play.

 

[Atoyot]

I think he might be the next Gretzky, but with better tools.

I'm thinking the next Logan Stanley, but taller.

 

[Atoyot]

just a random thought, not related to ippenators' comment specifically but is it lacking hockey iq or not listening/following coaches direction? I feel like hockey iq needs to be narrowed down the way it is tossed around.

I remember one of our prospects (Green?) was described as uncoachable.

Might be thinking Jan Kostalek?

 

[MardyBum]

What a great read.

 

[Atoyot]

Seems to me that you think a bit too much through your feelings. I judge players only by how they play and what kind of things I generally like or dislike in hockey. And what I very much dislike in hockey is people forgetting, that the puck is way faster than any skater. So the real speed that you need to have in your game to be a true star is the speed that you have with your accurate and correct decision making and distributing the puck quickly and smartly through that. And this is what Brad Lambert is simply terrible at.

Fast skating speed can’t save a player and make him a true star, if his decision making is first of all way too slow, and at the same time he even makes mostly terrible decisions. Lambert for sure is as Finnish as anyone else who plays for the Finnish national team, but sadly he is a Finnish player that just sucks with his hockey IQ. He is a mindless speedster, and I honestly dislike those kind of players.

The other type of players I very much dislike are mindless danglers who hang on to the puck and can’t do anything creative and productive with it. Sure they might get great possession stats, but when they can’t produce, they become pretty much useless and also frustrating and boring players to watch. A player like this is very much Kaapo Kakko, who is another Finnish low hockey IQ player, who has definitely got from me the very similar treatment that Lambert has got from me on these boards. And the same goes with the other low hockey IQ Finns like Jesse Puljujärvi and Kasperi Kapanen. They all are players that I dislike despite them being Finnish. They all play dumb and unproductive hockey, so them being Finnish doesn’t mean that I should like them as players. Lambert is just one more name to this unfortunate list of low IQ Finnish NHL players. Thank God the list is at least relatively short. But for sure there’s nothing else behind my attitude towards Lambert and his play.

Hey we've had selfish mindless speedsters that have worked out in the past. Remember Evander Ka-oh, oh no.

 

[Ippenator]

Hey we've had selfish mindless speedsters that have worked out in the past. Remember Evander Ka-oh, oh no.

 

[Flair Hay]

i get those vibes from Isaac Howard. Kid is a complete clown.

Howard hasn't had any issues with production. Maybe a bit of a Evander type. But the guy produced as well as anyone on NTDP outside Cooley. Better than Gauthier, Nazar, Rutger...

He is going to be a real good NHL player. Just may not have been long for Winnipeg if we picked him.

 

[Ippenator]

Hey we've had selfish mindless speedsters that have worked out in the past. Remember Evander Ka-oh, oh no.

And just to avoid us being xenophobic here, the reaction to this in several different languages…

 

[DRW204]

Howard hasn't had any issues with production. Maybe a bit of a Evander type. But the guy produced as well as anyone on NTDP outside Cooley. Better than Gauthier, Nazar, Rutger...

He is going to be a real good NHL player. Just may not have been long for Winnipeg if we picked him.

howard's production model at his age puts him quite high in this draft. i have 0 clue how he's a complete clown off the ice, never met him. are people basing this because he dressed a bit flashy?

 

[Buffdog]

I guess if you want to argue semantics, I think his comment was implying that Ippenator is a bigot or xenophobe.

Does that make it better?

I always want to argue everything lol. It's a personality disorder (but that's implying I have a personality, which is in and of itself debatable).

Anyway... I'm looking forward to Lambert scoring the overtime winner to complete his hat trick next game for not other reason than to see what turn this thread would take

 

[Ippenator]

howard's production model at his age puts him quite high in this draft. i have 0 clue how he's a complete clown off the ice, never met him. are people basing this because he dressed a bit flashy?

He also said in a bragging way something like, he has to dress according to the most handsome guy that he is in the draft. And honestly to me it didn’t even sound like he was joking. And even if he was just joking after all, I would say that it wasn’t a too smart way of joking in that situation either. He does seem like a pretty darn good player to me though, but I would still be quite worried about what he does for the locker room.

 

[Monkey D Luffy]

To get back on track here, I think Lambert just needs linemates who can skate with him, and get a zone exit or two.

The way Finland is deploying him does not suit his game at all. He is an offensive weapon and every time I watch, he's put out for defensive zone draws and his line is stuck there for most of their shift.

 

[Ippenator]

To get back on track here, I think Lambert just needs linemates who can skate with him, and get a zone exit or two.

The way Finland is deploying him does not suit his game at all. He is an offensive weapon and every time I watch, he's put out for defensive zone draws and his line is stuck there for most of their shift.

I don’t think Finland has any other skater too close to the level of Lambert’s skating. What you are saying here isn’t his problem anyway, he just is clueless with the puck after he manages to make the zone entry. And btw, he is already having one of the faster Finns in his line often, as Juuso Mäenpää has been tried with him already many times. He is a very quick (although very small as well) skater with good top speed as well.

 

[snowkiddin]

I always want to argue everything lol. It's a personality disorder (but that's implying I have a personality, which is in and of itself debatable).

Anyway... I'm looking forward to Lambert scoring the overtime winner to complete his hat trick next game for not other reason than to see what turn this thread would take

“Lambert showed us he can score goals using his elite speed but not much else. Did I mention he has low hockey IQ?”

That’s my guess, at least.

 

[Ippenator]

“Lambert showed us he can score goals using his elite speed but not much else. Did I mention he has low hockey IQ?”

That’s my guess, at least.

It would definitely be a start for maybe something good. But I would at least need a very much bigger sample size to start really changing my mind about him. Right now that scenario unfortunately isn't anything more than a daydream.