Prospect Info: Brad Lambert, 30th Overall, 2022 NHL Draft
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Buffdog
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I used to have this mindset, I'll admit. But with the league shifting towards younger players, I'm coming around to the idea of playing your best players regardless of their age or contract status.
If he makes the team better, play him. Maybe someday he'll remember the opportunity the org gave him and want to stick around because of it.
The other upside (to him, and potentially us) is he'd hit UFA at 25 or 26, and as a GM I'm a lot more comfy giving a big 8 year contract to someone that age vs the one schief is about to get at 30 or 31
Boonk
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Give Lambert the entire season with the Moose, with a cup of coffee of NHL at some point(s). He will be playing in all situations with better talent than Liiga. Lucius, Torgersson and Nikkanen will all be down there and could all be developed together as a forward unit for our future. I can't believe he was at 30 for us.
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Big Bad Brad went from a Bust to playing four good periods of hockey and will probably be winning the Calder, he for sure deserves another thread.
DeepFrickinValue
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lomiller1
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Shifting towards younger players doesn't mean playing 18 year olds who are just barely good enough to be in the league. You can get free agent veterans to do the same thing for not a lot of money. The cap savings when the player is 26/27 far outweighs any benefit from having an 18 year old on the team immediately. How much would it benefit the Jets if PLD had 3 more years before he qualified from UFA?
I'm a lot more comfortable not giving big UFA contracts at all, or at least giving a lot fewer of them. I'd rather try to keep a player until their late 20's and then let them walk if they are going to get too much money in UFA.
nobody imp0rtant
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Do I detect... sarcasm? Maybe we need an emoji for "I know I sound like I'm joking but I'm actually serious". And now, just to really confuse things...
Channelcat
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TommyKillian
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Ryan O'Reilly was the player I thought of. 33rd overall, played 81 games and scored 26 points in his D+1 season. O'Reilly and Bergeron had really mature games at that age and probably scored less in junior during their draft year because of that maturity/defensive commitment. I don't think Lambert has that maturity. He'd be an outlier among outliers if he played the bulk of this season in the NHL but it would be awesome to see.
Regardless, it will be interesting to watch. I think he will end up in the AHL and will really refine his game this season.
Just went back and looked and very few players have made it in their draft plus 1 year and none of them scored any better then a second line player the last half decade.
Just doesn't seem to be a smart move to put them in at 18. Almost all the best young talent spent their draft plus 1 years in a developmental league. No reason to think Brad would be better served in the NHL then the Moose at his age.
Gabe Kupari
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B33R LEAGUE
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I always thought it was almost standard protocol to place european players in the whl before ahl to acclimate their game to the North American playing style. I thought this has been the case for decades?
But I agree, I think placing him on the Moose would allow more control over his development.
IMO He would be terribly miscasted anywhere on the roster other than the top 6 and evidently there's no room /much superior options. Playing with Lowry or lower, you'd probably be looking at Vesalainen-like production. Mb he can be like Tanev who uses his speed for crash and banging, but it looks like Lambert could have superior puck skills (based on my limited viewings)
MardyBum
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If he continues to play like an NHL regular he should be given a few games to see what he has. Nothing wrong with giving him a look at what he needs to work on while in the AHL.
Mud Turtle
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Unless the structure of the top three lines changes to focus on three scoring lines, there really is no room for Lambert.
We can’t put in on a line centered by Lowry so I think it’s AHL for him.
Either way, I can’t wait to see how he does this year.
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Wondered where this went and realized they had merged the new Lambert thread with the old thread I was ignoring.
Glad Brad has had a couple of really good preseason games. I don’t put much stock in the preseason. The players that are going for it are guys fighting for a job so last game he was playing agaisnt largely AHL type talent. That being said he did stand out and that is good.
I was pretty postitive he needed a season in the WHL just to try to get some reps and hopefully wrack up points which is not a given. For those who think he is above that do we need to make a list of all the super stars who were better than BBL who spent their D+1 back in the CHL.
With his preseason they might put him on the Moose which wouldn’t be my first choice, However, at this point I will defer to the organization to make the call they think is best.
Glad Brad has had a couple of really good preseason games. I don’t put much stock in the preseason. The players that are going for it are guys fighting for a job so last game he was playing agaisnt largely AHL type talent. That being said he did stand out and that is good.
I was pretty postitive he needed a season in the WHL just to try to get some reps and hopefully wrack up points which is not a given. For those who think he is above that do we need to make a list of all the super stars who were better than BBL who spent their D+1 back in the CHL.
With his preseason they might put him on the Moose which wouldn’t be my first choice, However, at this point I will defer to the organization to make the call they think is best.
Agreed, he isn't the first kid to catch lightning in a bottle in camp. I like what he's shown but we've been down this road before with superior prospects with a better pedigree then him.
Scheifele had a better camp at 18 and showed when things mattered that he wasn't up to the task.
Ditto with Conner and that was after an elite draft plus 1 season.
Ville also had a good camp and couldn't stick long as an 18 year old. Heck we are still waiting for him to stick full time.
Brad more then anything needs development time and he won't get that playing limited minutes in the NHL. He's not better the anyone in the top 6 and likely not better then Appelton and Barron at the role the third line is to do.
DudeWhereIsMakar
Bergevin sent me an offer sheet
Cool your Jets, Jesse Pollock.
Would be nice, hope so, but that's way... too much of a stretch right now.
what you're not mentioning is all this played itself out with scheifele and heinola. they eventually petered out and were sent back to the chl and the moose. this hasn't happened yet with lambert, he is still going through the process and as of right now he has earned his next start and we will see if he earns another after that. they wont keep him up if he is not ready but for now he has earned the right to keep playing.
Brad isn't the typical European though. He has exposure to the na game through his family, and he spent a significant amount of time in Saskatchewan, where I'm sure he attended camps and soared with Canadian kids on nhl size ice.
I think at this point this is the logical decision especially if Barron isn't ready. It's also a great reward for the way he's approached his first tc. He's obviously come prepared and id bet he's soaking the coaching and teammates professionalism up like a sponge.
MrBoJangelz71
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Agreed, Even Bones brought it up in his interview yesterday.
Is there any valid reasoning as to why he has not signed yet? Does it allow his options to remain in tact, ie, Europe as an option if he does not make the Jets this year? Does signing prevent him from any options?
If not, can someone walk me off the ledge that not having him under contract yet is not a major concern?
If he signs then he is stuck in NA I believe. It would be the Jets who would fully control where he would play. Given how things went in Finland last year I'm not sure why he'd want to go back. It seems his game is more tailored to NA anyhow.
As.for why he isn't signed my guess is that it comes down to what it almost always comes down to and that is money. His camp is likely looking for a top half to top 10 bonus structure and the Jets are likely only wanting to provide one at market value for where he went in the draft.
nobody imp0rtant
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One big difference is Lambert is an elite skater and Scheifele at that age... well, he fell down. A lot.
