C/W Brad Lambert (2022, 30th, WPG) Part 3

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

We all know (I think) that the points were going to come for him. I’m more concerned with getting inside, battling on the wall and driving play/shooting the puck. Looks like all of those things are slowly coming. I’d still like to see him battle more on the wall and get inside more. He’s still pretty shy when it comes to taking contact. The speed is dynamic at this level.

I wish I could say this were true. Unfortunately there's a large contingent of Finnish fans who have been doubting him at every step and seemingly hoping for him to fail.

It's been pretty sad to witness.

 

[Halfy]

Let’s say he played in the W last year and scored roughly 90 points. Where does he go in the draft?

Remember that this is coming off his good first world juniors the year prior (4 P in 7 GP). Then the cancelled one during his DY.

Obviously his Liiga season and the pretty bad summer and latest WJC is gonna sour him on some people but try to forget that and be unbiased.

 

[FlappyGiraffe]

Let’s say he played in the W last year and scored roughly 90 points. Where does he go in the draft?

Remember that this is coming off his good first world juniors the year prior (4 P in 7 GP). Then the cancelled one during his DY.

Obviously his Liiga season and the pretty bad summer and latest WJC is gonna sour him on some people but try to forget that and be unbiased.

I'd imagine around Savioe, he had 90 in the WHL and had similar hype for the past several seasons

 

[ponder]

I'd imagine around Savioe, he had 90 in the WHL and had similar hype for the past several seasons

Yeah, I think roughly in the Savoie to Nazar range, 9-13ish. The decision making/hockey IQ flaws in his game that are glaring in liiga and the AHL are not nearly as obvious in the WHL. It’s more common for highly skilled CHL players to be kinda puck hogs, it makes more sense when you have such a large talent advantage over your competition (and teammates).

 

[GTA]

Yeah, I think roughly in the Savoie to Nazar range, 9-13ish. The decision making/hockey IQ flaws in his game that are glaring in liiga and the AHL are not nearly as obvious in the WHL. It’s more common for highly skilled CHL players to be kinda puck hogs, it makes more sense when you have such a large talent advantage over your competition (and teammates).

Does every other player play Canadian junior in this hypothetical and do really well? Actually if he scored around 160 points I think he goes top 3. Maybe top 1 at 200 points.

 

[Halfy]

Yeah, I think roughly in the Savoie to Nazar range, 9-13ish. The decision making/hockey IQ flaws in his game that are glaring in liiga and the AHL are not nearly as obvious in the WHL. It’s more common for highly skilled CHL players to be kinda puck hogs, it makes more sense when you have such a large talent advantage over your competition (and teammates).

I’m not sure the hockey IQ concerns are actually that warranted. Truthfully, we kinda don’t know because he became like this super perimeter player where he avoided battles and contact like it was the plague. I’d like to revisit that once he gets more consistent with his battle and compete for loose pucks and through contact

 

[forever1922]

I wish I could say this were true. Unfortunately there's a large contingent of Finnish fans who have been doubting him at every step and seemingly hoping for him to fail.

It's been pretty sad to witness.

Finns have seen him develop, seen the other prospects develop. Seen him stagnate and in fact regress. And then not handle the situation well. On multiple teams. It is reasonable to assume fans will turn on such prospects.

I don't think you will find many finnish fans that wish he doesn't turn it around. He just doesn't deserve any more favors and it will be on him to reverse his course and turn it around.

 

[Joe Hallenback]

I wish I could say this were true. Unfortunately there's a large contingent of Finnish fans who have been doubting him at every step and seemingly hoping for him to fail.

It's been pretty sad to witness.

They got a bit of an extreme fan base on these boards and some of the more vocal ones are kind of nuts

I remember Toni Rajala was supposed to be the 2nd coming. Saw him at the u17s and he was great but he had a lot of flaws in his game. The finnish mob on these boards would not hear of it he was going to be the greatest player ever to come out of Finland. Got a good luck at him with Brandon after the Oilers took him in the 4th round. Thought he might have a shot at the NHL level. He went to the AHL and had a solid 1st year but the tempatation of easy money and easier hockey back home and he was gone. Another great finnish hope gone.

I felt like there was all this hope and hype on Lambert and as soon as he started to trend down he became this pariah to these guys on this board. Now he is in a good situation and hopefully he can start trending up again and for some reason they just can't stand it. I am not sure why but these guys take it personally

 

[ijuka]

They got a bit of an extreme fan base on these boards and some of the more vocal ones are kind of nuts

I remember Toni Rajala was supposed to be the 2nd coming. Saw him at the u17s and he was great but he had a lot of flaws in his game. The finnish mob on these boards would not hear of it he was going to be the greatest player ever to come out of Finland. Got a good luck at him with Brandon after the Oilers took him in the 4th round. Thought he might have a shot at the NHL level. He went to the AHL and had a solid 1st year but the tempatation of easy money and easier hockey back home and he was gone. Another great finnish hope gone.

I felt like there was all this hope and hype on Lambert and as soon as he started to trend down he became this pariah to these guys on this board. Now he is in a good situation and hopefully he can start trending up again and for some reason they just can't stand it. I am not sure why but these guys take it personally

Well, the problem with Lambert is that he currently is not really a better player than he was 3 years ago. So when looking at the trajectory, it is a bit of an issue. It's true that if he was not so good so early there would be less negativity, but then again, his trajectory would also be looking better in that case.

Of course, it'll be great if he performs well in WHL, but at least for me, the doubts aren't really in his ability to dominate against junior competition, it's in his ability to play professional games. If he performed well in AHL that would have helped, but performing well in WHL after doing so poorly in AHL doesn't do much to address the concerns.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Well, the problem with Lambert is that he currently is not really a better player than he was 3 years ago. So when looking at the trajectory, it is a bit of an issue. It's true that if he was not so good so early there would be less negativity, but then again, his trajectory would also be looking better in that case.

Of course, it'll be great if he performs well in WHL, but at least for me, the doubts aren't really in his ability to dominate against junior competition, it's in his ability to play professional games. If he performed well in AHL that would have helped, but performing well in WHL after doing so poorly in AHL doesn't do much to address the concerns.

He was doing very well in the AHL before he got injured and then got covid.

 

[Joe Hallenback]

Well, the problem with Lambert is that he currently is not really a better player than he was 3 years ago. So when looking at the trajectory, it is a bit of an issue. It's true that if he was not so good so early there would be less negativity, but then again, his trajectory would also be looking better in that case.

Of course, it'll be great if he performs well in WHL, but at least for me, the doubts aren't really in his ability to dominate against junior competition, it's in his ability to play professional games. If he performed well in AHL that would have helped, but performing well in WHL after doing so poorly in AHL doesn't do much to address the concerns.

He was never this "Generational" player 3 years ago that the HF finnish mob on these boards were saying. He was another talented young player who got all this hype on him and then got ripped apart because he wasn't supposedly living up to it and he was a primadonna and his dad was a bad man.

I was always unclear on why he was being hyped as a Finnish McDavid when he clearly wasn't as good and he was likely going to be a high pick but he was never as good as they were promoting him to be.

The Jets took a chance on him and got him over here this year and played him in the Minors and really were trying to be careful with him. I am not sure what Finland is trying to do but they are not adapt at trying to score that is for sure so that wasn't a good spot for him. He goes to Seattle and is doing really well like any kind of high end draft pick should be and we are quite happy with that.

I expect him to come back to the Jets next season and play in the AHL and continue to work on getting stronger and adapting to the pro game. I don't have any great expectations other then it looks like he might develop into a very good top 6 player for us

 

[Half Clapper]

You're drafting a guy with 3rd line upside in the middle of the 1st round when you're a rebuilding team?

I mean, I've never seen him play I have no idea what he is, but I'm using your words.

I think he has higher upside than that, but at worst a really good third line C is a fine pick in the middle of the 1st round.

 

[Czechboy]

Really happy for him! I still think the Cogliano! Which is NOT an insult.

 

[TheGreenTBer]

I think he has higher upside than that, but at worst a really good third line C is a fine pick in the middle of the 1st round.

thanks for the explanation.

 

[Lavar Ball]

 

[majormajor]

Let’s say he played in the W last year and scored roughly 90 points. Where does he go in the draft?

Remember that this is coming off his good first world juniors the year prior (4 P in 7 GP). Then the cancelled one during his DY.

Obviously his Liiga season and the pretty bad summer and latest WJC is gonna sour him on some people but try to forget that and be unbiased.

I'd imagine around Savioe, he had 90 in the WHL and had similar hype for the past several seasons

I think he'd go closer to #1, maybe #1. Savoie went ninth because of legit upside concerns with small players. Lambert would have all his shine on him, and the processing concerns would be hidden.

 

[Buffdog]

Finns have seen him develop, seen the other prospects develop. Seen him stagnate and in fact regress. And then not handle the situation well. On multiple teams. It is reasonable to assume fans will turn on such prospects.

I don't think you will find many finnish fans that wish he doesn't turn it around. He just doesn't deserve any more favors and it will be on him to reverse his course and turn it around.

The Finnish fans also watched KK, pulli, and other top Finnish picks develop and then end up busting at the NHL level relative to their draft status

Maybe the Finnish posters either don't know shit, or the Finns are terrible at developing top end talent

Weird that the best thing for a Finnish players development had been to get him away from Finland

 

[Czechboy]

the Finns are terrible at developing top end talent

HUH?

They've spent a decade building an army of top end talent. Apologies if I read this wrong.

 

[3074326]

Strange comment.. they've also seen guys like Barkov, Rantanen, Aho, Laine, Heiskanen, Saros etc. stick around and make huge impacts.

 

[forever1922]

The Finnish fans also watched KK, pulli, and other top Finnish picks develop and then end up busting at the NHL level relative to their draft status

Maybe the Finnish posters either don't know shit, or the Finns are terrible at developing top end talent

Weird that the best thing for a Finnish players development had been to get him away from Finland

What a ridiculous statement and it also has nothing to do with what I said.

You are free to think whatever you want. I merely explained why finns feel a certain way about Lambert in particular.

 

[EbonyRaptor]

I'm enjoying watching him play on Seattle - regardless of past or future expectations.

 

[Jukurit]

Strange that Lambert has so many goals. I thought his shot really sucked. In Liiga games when he did get scoring chances, he couldn't score on them because his shot was so bad.

 

[GlassesJacketShirt]

HUH?

They've spent a decade building an army of top end talent. Apologies if I read this wrong.

Fins had a great class of prospects in the mid-2010s for sure, though it is curious how many of them did not live up to their draft billing.

 

[Buffdog]

What a ridiculous statement and it also has nothing to do with what I said.

You are free to think whatever you want. I merely explained why finns feel a certain way about Lambert in particular.

Finnish top 5 picks the past 5 drafts:
2016
Laine 2OA (hit)
Pool party 4OA (bust)

2017
Miro Heiskanen 3OA (hit)

2018
Jesperi Kotkaniemi 3OA (bust)

2019
Kaapo Kakko 2OA (bust)

Not impressed

 

[Icebreakers]

Finnish top 5 picks the past 5 drafts:
2016
Laine 2OA (hit)
Pool party 4OA (bust)

2017
Miro Heiskanen 3OA (hit)

2018
Jesperi Kotkaniemi 3OA (bust)

2019
Kaapo Kakko 2OA (bust)

Not impressed

You missed Juolevi in 2016.