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By Aaron Heckmann -
Hockey Wilderness is counting down the Minnesota Wild’s Top-10 Prospects, as voted by our staff. Today, we give you everything you need to know about our No. 10 prospect, Carson Lambos.
Iowa Wild head coach Brett McLean had high praise for Carson Lambos last year.
“He’s got amazing raw abilities, and I didn’t realize he was such a good skater. He’s able to close so much on players and able to skate himself out of trouble,” McLean told me last November. “Reminds me of (Jonas) Brodin in some ways — the way he can move.”
McLean seeing some Brodin in Lambos’s game speaks volumes, given that Brodin has been a defensive staple for Minnesota since 2012. Lambos remains an exciting prospect, and his talent is undeniable. However, his upside is less clear, and predicting his future is difficult.
It has become evident that the 21-year-old left-shot defender’s stock has meaningfully fallen since the Wild drafted him in 2021.
Scott Wheeler is a prospect and draft analyst at The Athletic. In 2022, he had Lambos ranked No. 4 in the Wild’s pipeline, projecting him as a second-pair defender. Two years later, Wheeler projects him to slot in the third pair.
In February, Wheeler had Lambos at No. 8 in the Wid’s prospect pool. That was before the draft, so Lambos is likely outside Wheeler’s post-draft top-10 now. Here at Hockey Wilderness, Lambos barely made the cut and moved three spots back from our rankings last summer.
Lambos was a highly coveted blueline prospect, who the Wild took 26th overall in 2021. Since then, he’s become an unknown the longer he’s played in Minnesota’s system. The consensus appears that Lambos doesn’t profile as high now as he did when the Wild drafted him.
I still believe Lambos could be a second-pair defender in the future, and his stock falling is an overreaction. At a minimum, we need to see how next season plays out. Still, Lambos has had some growing pains during this transition.
After the draft, Lambos put together two strong seasons in the Western Hockey League. He recorded 22 goals and 95 points with a +102 rating in 112 games with the Winnipeg Ice. In 2022-23, Winnipeg named Lambos team captain after he served as an alternate captain the year before. Before his first season with the Iowa Wild, Lambos had cemented himself as a top player on one of the WHL’s best teams.
Due to call-ups and injuries, Iowa shoehorned Lambos into a significant role as a rookie in his age-20 season last year.
As a result, McLean said he had to play more than initially planned. Lambos skated in all situations, even temporarily on the first pair. Lambos’ usage will be a valuable experience for the smooth-skating defenseman.
Still, there’s no doubt Lambos had trouble adjusting to the AHL. Lambos finished the year with three goals and 14 points with a -13 rating in 69 games. He also ranked fourth on the team with 64 penalty minutes. Lambos struggled with consistency, and his rookie year was filled with highs and lows.
“It hasn’t been flawless,” McLean admitted. “It hasn’t been perfect, but he continues to grow, and his game just continues to get better and better. He’s been real good, exciting to see what the future holds for him.”
Lambos was adjusting to life in the AHL on and off the ice. Given his responsibility and pressure on one of the AHL’s worst teams, we should have expected him to have an inconsistent season.
The good news for Lambos, 21, and the Wild is that time is on their side. There’s no need to rush his development, especially with Brock Faber becoming a breakout star, the selection of Zeev Buium in this summer’s draft, and the organization’s defensive depth.
Still, Lambos must show some progression — and some flash and reliability that got the Wild’s attention in the first place — during his sophomore season in Iowa this fall.
“I want to become a really reliable kind of dominant defenseman in this league,” Lambos said of the AHL last November. “I feel like I'm capable of doing that. I still have a lot of things to figure out before I'm there — but I think I can do that.”
Last season gave him valuable experience and usage. People know Lambos for his two-way play, and he may not have a profile as high as it was when he was drafted.
Still, he has NHL upside. Lambos has some hurdles he’ll have to overcome as he continues to develop. However, he should still be considered an intriguing blueline prospect in the Wild’s system because of his track record and the two-way ability he’s showcased.
All Data Via Elite Prospects.
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