His rookie Liiga season was a touch disappointing, but only because expectations were so sky high. Dude has an incredible skill set - unreal skater, elite puck handler, very good hockey IQ, he does it all. Most similar prospect to MacKinnon that I’ve seen since MacKinnon. Personally I still have him #2.
C Brad Lambert - Pelicans Lahti, Liiga (2022 Draft) part 2
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- May 2, 2018
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I actually think his IQ is a bit of an issue right now. Elite skating high skill level but hasn't figured out how to use his teammates properly. Still a very high end prospect.
Pavel Buchnevich
Drury and Laviolette Must Go
Agree with this, he hasn't been using his teammates efficiently enough for me to see him going 2nd OA, top 5 in my books rn.
Curious too since I'd have considered that to have been a strength when he was still with HIFK, but with JYP he's looked like a low IQ player. This season will likely be very telling.
Agreed, Barzal is more of a super smooth skater and puck handler, with a fairly east-west game. While MacKinnon is more of a powerful, explosive skater and puck handler, with a north-south game. Lambert has that MacKinnon style, from the games of his I’ve seen.
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ChicagoBullsFan
Registered User
Lambert's draft stocks going downhill.
Brad Lambertin osakkeet ovat laskusuunnassa, eikä U20-turnaus tuonut tilanteeseen uutta valoa - EP Rinkside FI.
Brad Lambertin osakkeet ovat laskusuunnassa, eikä U20-turnaus tuonut tilanteeseen uutta valoa - EP Rinkside FI.
A lot of work to do without the puck, he is very one dimensional right now. Don't think he'll fall outside the top 10 but I also don't think he'll go top 3 if there isn't any improvements there this season. Fingers crossed it's just a maturity thing
DJB
Registered User
My clear #2 right now. Elite skill set and a ton of fun to scout and watch
Stewie Griffin
What the deuce
JabbaJabba
Registered User
Feels like an overreaction to a summer tournament that Lambert had no stakes in. He's all but guaranteed to make the U20 squad in the end of the year. The most imporant thing is his upcoming Liiga season. I do agree that Lambert has his problems though and because the next draft is filled with talented players, Lambert's expected high pick isn't as set in stone as it once was, although those yearly rankings are always unreliable.
Ed Ned and Leddy
Brokering the Bally Sports + Corncob TV Merger
I'm still pretty bullish on Lambert as the #2 prospect in this class as well, and I'm not even as high on having prospects in European men's leagues as many on this board are. I think Wright has separated himself. But I haven't seen anyone else blow me away enough to pass on Lambert's combination of speed and skill on a pretty good center frame. I think he has the tools to score pretty effectively in both transition and controlled 5v5 possessions/powerplay situations. I think he has a good enough balance between his vision/playmaking ability and his scoring ability where he doesn't feel particularly one-trick.
Some concerns about his processing power and consistency, but no serious enough red flags where I'd move him under prospects not named Wright at this point. As a Red Wings fan I'd happily take him at #2 and gamble on his 1C upside were the draft held today.
Some concerns about his processing power and consistency, but no serious enough red flags where I'd move him under prospects not named Wright at this point. As a Red Wings fan I'd happily take him at #2 and gamble on his 1C upside were the draft held today.
ChicagoBullsFan
Registered User
You had good points and i agree most with you.
That EP rinkside article truly looks a bit overreaction based on one practice tournament.
I didn't follow at all Finland's games in Plymouth's U20 tournament
so i can't say what was good and what was bad in Lambert's game.
Practice games are practice games
and reporters should avoid make any conclusions based on those games.
That what's real indicator for Lambert's draft position is his liiga season and U20 WJC's.
ChicagoBullsFan
Registered User
Which Nylander Lambert's reminds you most William or Alex.
And how he reminds either of Nylander brothers is it good way or bad way?
ChicagoBullsFan
Registered User
If you was Steve Yzerman and you have to choose
between Lambert, Slafkovsky and Miroshnichenko who you would take and why?
Pavel Buchnevich
Drury and Laviolette Must Go
I’m not Yzerman or the poster you quoted, but I also would rank him second. I think there are too many overreactions over virtually nothing surrounding Lambert.
ReginKarlssonLehner
Let's Win It All
Yea, reminds me of Barkov's criticism leading up--and probably will continue--into his draft year.
I find it actually funny that most of the Finnish posters are being quite down on Lambert from the initial expectations, while NA posters are seeing him as #2 going into the season before draft.
Kaako Kappo
Kaako Kappo
I think he hasn't shown much in the past year, so it's reasonable to be a bit reserved. A lot can change between now and the draft.
JabbaJabba
Registered User
Maybe it's the pessimistic Finnish nature and the recent fall of Räty that got everyone's expectations down.
Last season he was much worse than I thought he'd be. The season before, in the Liiga games he played he was constantly creating and dangerous. Last season with JYP he was much milder, like he took a step backwards.
North American reactions to Finnish players in general seem pretty delayed, for better or for worse.
But Räty might be bouncing back judging by his recent u-20 development tournament performance.
I don't quite understand the narrative about underwhelming first season in Liiga. 99% of players don't have any business playing there at age of 16(he turned 17 halfway of the season). I think Barkov has been the most effective player at that age and he scored 16pts in less games and also 4pts at WJC (like Lambert). Tappara was much better team that year than JYP last year and Barkov is a perfect match to Tappara's/Dufva's hockey. While last season must have been tough to every player in JYP (Coach drama, some player(some owners) drama, financial struggles, Covid- year etc.).
I think under the circumstances he did pretty well as he is not as physically ready to play against men like Barkov was. This year should be the one where he really should make his mark in Liiga. I think most recent high picks from Finland started to look good in men's league during the draft year (Kakko, Laine, Puljujärvi, Aho, Barkov) so I wouldnt worry about Lambert either. I think he should be in top3 overall conversation when the draft day comes.
I think under the circumstances he did pretty well as he is not as physically ready to play against men like Barkov was. This year should be the one where he really should make his mark in Liiga. I think most recent high picks from Finland started to look good in men's league during the draft year (Kakko, Laine, Puljujärvi, Aho, Barkov) so I wouldnt worry about Lambert either. I think he should be in top3 overall conversation when the draft day comes.
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