C Brad Lambert - Pelicans Lahti, Liiga (2022 Draft) part 2

[Ippenator]

But one would also have to wonder what would have it done to him/to his game if he had been playing the entire season big minutes with full of confidence.

How much more of a better bet would have he been on becoming an nhl player.

As we said before it’s a good thing he’s not under controll and the drafting team will have the say on where he’s playing

Sorry, but I don’t definitely buy this. If a youngster has really enough of talent they will do well in Liiga already at his age. He had all the chances to get his minutes and to make his success, but he himself failed pretty miserably so far.

And if it really would be that his weak performances for the last two Liiga seasons were because of something breaking his confidence (which I don’t believe for a second), then that by itself would be a massive red flag on him as a talent. Real top class talents aren’t that weak mentally.

The only thing that could have had an effect like that would have been him having some serious injuries or some other health problems (which was a major problem for Räty, when
he fell in the draft), but I have at least understood that he has been relatively healthy, so it really all falls on himself and the lack of talent (especially his weakish hockey IQ) that he seems to have after all.

 

[LastWordArmy]

Brad Lambert has long been considered one of the top prospects in the 2022 NHL Draft. Once expected to challenge for a top-two pick, that now seems unlikely after a disappointing season. The Finnish-born son of Canadian former pro hockey player, Ross Lambert is still an intriguing draft prospect. His uncle Lane Lambert was recently named New York Islanders head coach.

Lambert spent most of the year playing in the SM Liiga. He started the year with JYP, putting up two goals and six points in 24 games. At mid-season, he was transferred to the Lahti Pelicans, where he scored two goals and four points in 25 games.

Brad Lambert Scouting Report: 2022 NHL Draft #16

Brad Lambert Scouting Report: Lambert has long been considered one of the top prospects in the 2022 NHL Draft, but his stock has dropped.

lastwordonsports.com

 

[bsu]

A likely situation imo: He'll get drafted... Come to play juniors in Canada and explode and everyone will wonder why he dropped.

 

[Ippenator]

A likely situation imo: He'll get drafted... Come to play juniors in Canada and explode and everyone will wonder why he dropped.

It would be stupid to wonder about that, as he has had such poor production for the last two seasons that it’s very easy to understand that it was the reason why he dropped in the draft.

And I find it anyway quite hard to believe that he will really be as good as you are expecting. He just lacks way too much of hockey IQ. But if he will really do after all very well in any of the CHL leagues next season, it would anyway be most probably because of him being already a bit older in any of the CHL leagues, and also him doing really well would probably tell more about CHL leagues being way weaker than Canadians want to usually believe.

 

[bsu]

It would be stupid to wonder about that, as he has had such poor production for the last two seasons that it’s very easy to understand that it was the reason why he dropped in the draft.

And I find it anyway quite hard to believe that he will really be as good as you are expecting. He just lacks way too much of hockey IQ. But if he will really do after all very well in any of the CHL leagues next season, it would anyway be most probably because of him being already a bit older in any of the CHL leagues, and also him doing really well would probably tell more about CHL leagues being way weaker than Canadians want to usually believe.

No it'd be more about playing people his age and weight while he figures the rest of his game out.

 

[ijuka]

It would be stupid to wonder about that, as he has had such poor production for the last two seasons that it’s very easy to understand that it was the reason why he dropped in the draft.

And I find it anyway quite hard to believe that he will really be as good as you are expecting. He just lacks way too much of hockey IQ. But if he will really do after all very well in any of the CHL leagues next season, it would anyway be most probably because of him being already a bit older in any of the CHL leagues, and also him doing really well would probably tell more about CHL leagues being way weaker than Canadians want to usually believe.

Hands and skating can compensate for quite a bit... For example for counterattacks where the goal is to just rush full speed ahead you don't need insane hockey IQ, and being a practically guaranteed zone entry is always valuable.

 

[BB88]

Sorry, but I don’t definitely buy this. If a youngster has really enough of talent they will do well in Liiga already at his age. He had all the chances to get his minutes and to make his success, but he himself failed pretty miserably so far.

And if it really would be that his weak performances for the last two Liiga seasons were because of something breaking his confidence (which I don’t believe for a second), then that by itself would be a massive red flag on him as a talent. Real top class talents aren’t that weak mentally.

The only thing that could have had an effect like that would have been him having some serious injuries or some other health problems (which was a major problem for Räty, when
he fell in the draft), but I have at least understood that he has been relatively healthy, so it really all falls on himself and the lack of talent (especially his weakish hockey IQ) that he seems to have after all.

If you’ve watched young players at all you’d know confidence is everything to them.

There’s pretty much no doubt Lambert would have been dominating juniors, so you think that would have been worse for his development?

& if you’ve watched Finnishh draft prospects you know they tend to look a lot better on the second half of the draft season vs the first one.
Which is after u20 where they’ve been dominating usually and getting their confidence up, they come to Liiga and continue better game.

This year Lambert would have been dominating the u20 but it was cut short so we weren’t able to see if he could have followed the path.

But in short I don’t exactly know what you are arguin against.

 

[Ippenator]

No it'd be more about playing people his age and weight while he figures the rest of his game out.

But his problems haven’t been physical after all, although I do realize that his fans desperately want to use it as an excuse. His problem has been that he doesn’t usually know at all what to do with the puck, and he ends up hanging on to it way too long and losing it with a bad pass or just losing control of the puck. This is all happening because of problems with his vision and his hockey IQ. Not because he would be somekind of a physical weakling, which he in fact isn’t at all. He is in fact with pretty good size and even strength for his age. The problems are with how badly he is processing the game in his head, unfortunately.

 

[Jukurit]

Not sure playing in WHL and putting up points would really change that much. Yes, no doubt would boost confidence. But Lambert would still have the same flaws and at junior level he would be able to "get away" with them.

 

[Kibe]

Being in canada/USA is so much better than Finland for ones rights,

All Liiga contracts have an NHL clause.

 

[TheFinnishTrap]

In my opinion Kapanen was in fact a bit better passer at the same age. I find it quite hard to see that Lambert would at least become a better passer. And no, I’m not claiming that Kapanen is a good passer either.

Kapanen was neither a better passer technically nor had a better vision for passing. At least the way I remember him from U20 tournaments and such is a fast skater who sometimes had a deadly shot and good hands, but also suffered from tunnel vision. Lambert at the same level is a much better playmaker, technically and in terms of making creative plays.

 

[Junohockeyfan]

Kapanen was neither a better passer technically nor had a better vision for passing. At least the way I remember him from U20 tournaments and such is a fast skater who sometimes had a deadly shot and good hands, but also suffered from tunnel vision. Lambert at the same level is a much better playmaker, technically and in terms of making creative plays.

The biggest issue with Lambert is his extremely low IQ. He makes terrible decisions in the offensive zone. Looks like a puckhog at times when the better play is to pass. He's got some Yakupov in his game that needs to be rooted out.

 

[TheFinnishTrap]

The biggest issue with Lambert is his extremely low IQ. He makes terrible decisions in the offensive zone. Looks like a puckhog at times when the better play is to pass. He's got some Yakupov in his game that needs to be rooted out.

Sure, but he’s shown to be a great playmaker at junior level, definitely better than Kapanen. Remains to be seen if he can do that on higher levels.

 

[Junohockeyfan]

Sure, but he’s shown to be a great playmaker at junior level, definitely better than Kapanen. Remains to be seen if he can do that on higher levels.

Playmaking and decision making in junior is much easier because you have time and space. In the NHL, time and space is gone and you have to make split decisions. That's where Lambert is very suspect. He skates himself into trouble with the puck. He will need to learn to economize.

 

[TheFinnishTrap]

Playmaking and decision making in junior is much easier because you have time and space. In the NHL, time and space is gone and you have to make split decisions. That's where Lambert is very suspect. He skates himself into trouble with the puck. He will need to learn to economize.

That’s pretty much what I think, I just disagree with calling Kapanen a better passer/playmaker.

 

[lafellaesobar]

All Liiga contracts have an NHL clause.

oh i confused Sweden and Finland then.

 

[ChicagoBullsFan]

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

hfboards.mandatory.com

 

[majormajor]

The biggest issue with Lambert is his extremely low IQ. He makes terrible decisions in the offensive zone. Looks like a puckhog at times when the better play is to pass. He's got some Yakupov in his game that needs to be rooted out.

Maybe it's just me but it feels retrograde to call a player low IQ. Not very precise either.

In any case I think it would be more accurate to say that Brad Lambert has poor vision. He makes some good decisions but really struggles to identify pass lanes when they open up.

 

[Junohockeyfan]

Maybe it's just me but it feels retrograde to call a player low IQ. Not very precise either.

In any case I think it would be more accurate to say that Brad Lambert has poor vision. He makes some good decisions but really struggles to identify pass lanes when they open up.

He makes a lot of bad decisions skating himself into a worse situation. He passes up better options. That's the reason for low IQ. Or would you prefer a softer approach of Brad Lambert's hockey IQ is challenged?

 

[majormajor]

He makes a lot of bad decisions skating himself into a worse situation. He passes up better options. That's the reason for low IQ. Or would you prefer a softer approach of Brad Lambert's hockey IQ is challenged?

I'm not sure what you're asking.

I don't see Lambert much differently than you. It just feels antiquated and vague to call someone "low IQ".

 

[Junohockeyfan]

I'm not sure what you're asking.

I don't see Lambert much differently than you. It just feels antiquated and vague to call someone "low IQ".

Certainly not antiquated. Its a common hockey term:

Hockey I.Q. (a.k.a. Hockey Sense) is a collective term that includes a player's: 1) Understanding of the Game. 2) Ice Awareness. 3) Pattern Recognition. 4) Problem Solving.

 

[majormajor]

Certainly not antiquated. Its a common hockey term:

Hockey I.Q. (a.k.a. Hockey Sense) is a collective term that includes a player's: 1) Understanding of the Game. 2) Ice Awareness. 3) Pattern Recognition. 4) Problem Solving.

Yes I'm familiar.