Article: Steady Carson Lambos Is Jonas Brodin’s Heir Apparent

[Kalisha Turnipseed]

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[Citizen Strife]

Imagine what the team looks like if Lambos impresses anywhere close to how Faber has?  Next season can't come soon enough.

[Pewterschmidt]

Hunt, Fabre, Lambo, brodin, mids and haven’t we drafted def since Benito arrived?   Why are we talking about taking def in this draft?

i hope lambo keeps that cookie duster

[raithis]

Middleton seems to need someone like Spurgeon or Faber on his right to complement his play-style.  Any time he's paired with someone else, he looks like he is only a slightly better and more physical version of Merrill.  With either Spurgeon or Faber, he looks much better.  If Lambos can make the team next year, I'd put him on the 3rd pairing with Hunt (assuming he makes the team too).  I'd also leave Faber with Middleton and would pair Spurgeon with Brodin, giving Spurgeon the green light to jump up into the offense whenever it seems advantageous to do so.  Brodin can cover if something goes wrong.

[Citizen Strife]

36 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Hunt, Fabre, Lambo, brodin, mids and haven’t we drafted def since Benito arrived?   Why are we talking about taking def in this draft?

i hope lambo keeps that cookie duster

Because the Addison experiment failed and Faber being the only new offensive defenseman option or Middleton being the only guy with size is kinda bleh.

[FredJohnson]

[B1GKappa97]

1 hour ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Hunt, Fabre, Lambo, brodin, mids and haven’t we drafted def since Benito arrived?   Why are we talking about taking def in this draft?

i hope lambo keeps that cookie duster

'Cause its a draft class stacked with offensive defensemen who have size. Especially at the top. If we're outside of the top-10 there's a good chance we take one of those defensemen.

I won't be mad if they end up with a top-10 pick and land Cayden Lindstrom as a top-6 forward with 6'3'' 215lbs size either though. 

[Willy the poor boy]

Well, let's see if they can develop some of this talent because we sure haven't seen much of it in the past beyond back end players making it. Not many perform to expectations and certainly not beyond.

[Protec]

I would say, let's not count chickens before they hatch. 

Since having the greatest prospect pool since sliced bread, the Wild sure don't have guys taking over NHL roster spots at an impressive pace.

Even so, will every Rookie play like Faber or be dominant at age 21???

There's questions without easy answers. Guerin's bets on vets or National writer's prospect pool opinions are nothing more than finger-crossing and guesses til we actually see results. Even then I would say rookies need time and vets often slow down. 

The Wild have kinda lost their identity. They don't have much between their prospects and old guys, especially mean-toughness to protect their star player. I hope Guerin can learn from this season. 

 

[FredJohnson]

2 hours ago, FredJohnson said:

Get it??!! It's a Lambo(rghini)!

[mnfaninnc]

5 hours ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Hunt, Fabre, Lambo, brodin, mids and haven’t we drafted def since Benito arrived?   Why are we talking about taking def in this draft?

i hope lambo keeps that cookie duster

I think the defense we're talking about is that #1 guy who has size and can dominate a game. But, to your point, we seem to have solid depth at this position. Could Lindstrom then be our guy? I still like that 6'7" Russian. Did I mention he also has a mean streak? Actually, both of these guys play angry.

[mnfaninnc]

5 hours ago, raithis said:

Middleton seems to need someone like Spurgeon or Faber on his right to complement his play-style.  Any time he's paired with someone else, he looks like he is only a slightly better and more physical version of Merrill.  With either Spurgeon or Faber, he looks much better.  If Lambos can make the team next year, I'd put him on the 3rd pairing with Hunt (assuming he makes the team too).  I'd also leave Faber with Middleton and would pair Spurgeon with Brodin, giving Spurgeon the green light to jump up into the offense whenever it seems advantageous to do so.  Brodin can cover if something goes wrong.

I still think the pair of the future is Lambos-Faber. But, for starters, this is a decent take. Where I can see Middleton is with a guy like Spacek, but that's a couple of seasons away. And Spacek has got to get to 200 lbs. I think I saw he's currently at 190.

[mnfaninnc]

4 hours ago, Willy the poor boy said:

Well, let's see if they can develop some of this talent because we sure haven't seen much of it in the past beyond back end players making it. Not many perform to expectations and certainly not beyond.

That may not be completely fair to say. In the '21 draft, Lambos and The Wall were the headliners. Lambos just started in the A. The other thought is that we've got some guys over seas that we just don't hear enough about. 

Remember, the '20, '21, '22 & '23 drafts all have a lost year and a half from Covid in development. It's simply going to take patience on our part as these guys make up for that year and a half. They may actually debut a little later than a normal prospect, though, The Wall may be debuting tonight.

[mnfaninnc]

4 hours ago, Protec said:

The Wild have kinda lost their identity. They don't have much between their prospects and old guys, especially mean-toughness to protect their star player. I hope Guerin can learn from this season. 

This is the game I'd like to see Raska drop the mitts and see what he's got. I've liked his straight ahead, north-south play, now it's time to see his intangibles.

[Willy the poor boy]

4 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

That may not be completely fair to say. In the '21 draft, Lambos and The Wall were the headliners. Lambos just started in the A. The other thought is that we've got some guys over seas that we just don't hear enough about. 

Remember, the '20, '21, '22 & '23 drafts all have a lost year and a half from Covid in development. It's simply going to take patience on our part as these guys make up for that year and a half. They may actually debut a little later than a normal prospect, though, The Wall may be debuting tonight.

Well, I'm talking about decades of missing on picks. Not a 100% but we're certainly lagging behind many teams. It's something this team should address, Maybe Brackett was the answer but it hasn't shown to date, and yes, I agree, more time needs to be given. Usually when those high enders drop, there is a reason.

[mnfaninnc]

I've just got to ask. Kalisha, where are you getting your sources from on this?

Now, to review, Kalisha was dead on the extensions to Zuccarello, Hartman and Foligno a couple of days ahead of it. 

I have tried to find stuff out on how Lambos is doing, but have come up pretty empty. For instance, with his point production, it doesn't appear as if he is QBing a PP in the A. Perhaps with all the guys up here, maybe he is doing it. 

I like the series, and do want to hear about how Beckman, Spacek and Masters are doing, also O'Rourke, though I really think the key to his game is 20 lbs. of muscle. 

[mnfaninnc]

1 minute ago, Willy the poor boy said:

Usually when those high enders drop, there is a reason.

You're absolutely right about that, however, the times dictated that Lambos dropped because of a brutal draft year. He didn't do well in Europe. Everyone from that draft was a crap shoot with Covid. I have no idea why The Wall dropped, but I suspect he may have taken names. 

The same can be said for the following 2 drafts, too. We get Yurov on a drop because of political circumstances. We got Stramel dropped due mainly to a tough Wisconsin year and heartbreak over his dad's death. I think Ohgren dropped too. On Brackett's board, he also had Peart in his top 20. All of these prospects could pan out, though Stramel doesn't look very good at this typing. I have to wonder if Stramel needs a change of scenery, perhaps a little south in Des Moines?

[mnfaninnc]

While the title suggests that Lambos will be taking over for Brodin, I see them having plenty of good years together in the same lineup. To me, I've seen Lambos as Faber's partner since we traded for Faber. I could see this as the #1 pairing while Brodin-Spurgeon are #2 to save their legs. I could definitely see a Middleton-Hunt 3rd pairing, but I really think it's headed to a Middleton-Spacek. Perhaps Hunt is too good to serve as 7th D, but this is a great problem to have!

[Imyourhuckleberry]

10 hours ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Hunt, Fabre, Lambo, brodin, mids and haven’t we drafted def since Benito arrived?   Why are we talking about taking def in this draft?

The Wild drafted only offense before the 5th round last year. The prior year, they didn't take a defenseman until the 4th round. I wouldn't count on Hunt or O'Rourke routinely playing above a 3rd pairing in the NHL.

Assuming the Wild don't move towards the top of the lottery, someone like right shot defenseman Zayne Parekh(18 goals and 55 points in 37 OHL games, leading his team in points this season) might fill in nicely around the time that Spurgeon is on his way out. Love Spurgeon, but he'll be 37 in 26-27, when his contract runs out. Parekh would turn 21 in the spring of 2027.

[mnfaninnc]

8 hours ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

Assuming the Wild don't move towards the top of the lottery, someone like right shot defenseman Zayne Parekh(18 goals and 55 points in 37 OHL games, leading his team in points this season) might fill in nicely around the time that Spurgeon is on his way out. Love Spurgeon, but he'll be 37 in 26-27, when his contract runs out. Parekh would turn 21 in the spring of 2027.

Huck, with all the bigger RHS defenders in this draft, why would you pick one of the little guys? I'm anticipating a draft placement somewhere around 6-8. 

[Imyourhuckleberry]

1 hour ago, mnfaninnc said:

Huck, with all the bigger RHS defenders in this draft, why would you pick one of the little guys? I'm anticipating a draft placement somewhere around 6-8.

Is 6 feet tall at 17 years old a little guy?  He's already 180 pounds, so likely would be over 190 pounds in a couple of years. One of his older brothers is 6'1, so possible some growth still ahead. How many defenders are scoring around .5 goals per game?

There are bigger guys, but high skill in a guy that's not small may end up better than a tall guy that isn't overly skilled. Obviously, both is best, but Makar is 5'11 and under 190 pounds, and I don't think anyone would be upset by getting someone like him.

Please note that I'm not suggesting this guy is the next Makar, I just saw him listed among the top 16 draft rankings and was impressed by his offensive stats, so used him as an example. Spurgeon is actually a little guy. Parekh is an average sized prospect to me. I don't see him as small. There are some 5'10" 1st round defenders and I was avoiding them.

I expect the Wild to be drafting a bit outside the top 10. There are 10 teams worse than a healthy Wild team in my eyes, and they'll likely get most of their guys back with a major portion of the season remaining.

There are 5 other defenders who could go in the top 10 that are 6'2" or larger. If the Wild are in the top 10, or if those guys slide a bit beyond the top 10, I wouldn't be surprised if the Wild do go for a larger defenseman. After seeing Addison not develop his defensive game, which could be a concern for Parekh, I'm certainly not opposed to a worthy D man with size. On the flip side, Parekh is a much better offensive defenseman than Addison, so if he does develop the defensive game, he could be a game changer.

He's leading Hunter Haight's OHL team in points by a healthy margin, is just 1 goal short of the team lead in goals(1 ahead of Hunter Haight), and is top 3 in +/-, so it seems there is production outside of the PP. His team is fighting for 1st place in their division too, so he's not just putting up meaningless points on a bad team. If he had a strong defensive game already, he might be rated top 10.

[mnfaninnc]

1 hour ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

He's leading Hunter Haight's OHL team in points by a healthy margin, is just 1 goal short of the team lead in goals(1 ahead of Hunter Haight), and is top 3 in +/-, so it seems there is production outside of the PP. His team is fighting for 1st place in their division too, so he's not just putting up meaningless points on a bad team. If he had a strong defensive game already, he might be rated top 10.

I would expect that Wild scouts will be attending these games to keep an eye on Haight. Typically, this is where you find other players, either opponents or teammates because you're looking at that guy. Some other guy just happens to capture your attention as he always shows up in the play. In this case, you go see Hunter Haight, talk to him after the game, maybe in the locker room, and he introduces you to the guy who caught your eye.

I still think 6' 180 is a little small. Spurgeon is an exception not a rule. But if you're starting to look between 11-16, I can certainly see your point of view. Just for a point of reference, which are the 10 teams you feel we are better than?

[Imyourhuckleberry]

7 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

which are the 10 teams you feel we are better than?

East: Ottawa, Columbus, Buffalo, Montreal

West: San Jose, Chicago, Anaheim, Calgary, St. Louis, Arizona. If healthy, I think the Wild can compete with several teams ahead of those 10, but since I have no idea how long players are out, I won't suggest the Wild will catch Nashville or Seattle.

Clearly the Wild are worse than some of those teams without KK97, their 2 highest paid defensemen, and Gustavsson, but if those guys return before February, they could start climbing past some teams that are currently ahead in the standings.

I could be wrong, but that's my take based upon the Wild competing near the top of the West last season prior to injuries.

[Mateo3xm]

On 1/10/2024 at 12:32 PM, Pewterschmidt said:

Hunt, Fabre, Lambo, brodin, mids and haven’t we drafted def since Benito arrived?   Why are we talking about taking def in this draft?

i hope lambo keeps that cookie duster

Because the dman in this draft have a lot higher ceiling than the defenders we have as prospects and virtually all of them are 6ft 2 or bigger.

its actually astonishing how many huge rhd there are in this draft. Have you taken a look at this years prospect for 2024?

defensman like these don’t come around that often.

you absolutely need big talented defenders for the playoffs. It help tremendously.

pretty much our biggest dman prospect who may actually play in the nhl is 6’1 

[Mateo3xm]

On 1/10/2024 at 6:40 PM, mnfaninnc said:

You're absolutely right about that, however, the times dictated that Lambos dropped because of a brutal draft year. He didn't do well in Europe. Everyone from that draft was a crap shoot with Covid. I have no idea why The Wall dropped, but I suspect he may have taken names. 

The same can be said for the following 2 drafts, too. We get Yurov on a drop because of political circumstances. We got Stramel dropped due mainly to a tough Wisconsin year and heartbreak over his dad's death. I think Ohgren dropped too. On Brackett's board, he also had Peart in his top 20. All of these prospects could pan out, though Stramel doesn't look very good at this typing. I have to wonder if Stramel needs a change of scenery, perhaps a little south in Des Moines?

Lambos had a big injury and was off for a while. He had surgery and was kind of secretive it.

that’s one of the big reasons he dropped.