Jets Place Brad Lambert On Waivers

The Winnipeg Jets have placed a former first-round pick on the waiver wire. According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, Winnipeg has made forward Brad Lambert available to the 31 other teams. If he clears, the Jets will likely reassign him to the Manitoba Moose in the AHL.

Even though he had the privilege of being selected with the 30th overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, Lambert was projected as a top-three candidate a year earlier. Unfortunately, Lambert lost a lot of love from scouts after his season leading up to the draft.

His skill has always been apparent, but Lambert has shown inconsistency at times and an unwillingness to play a team game. In his draft season, Lambert scored two goals and six points with the Finnish Liiga’s JYP with a -10 rating. After a mid-season move to the Pelicans, Lambert finished the campaign with two goals and four points in 25 games with a -6 rating.

Lambert immediately turned pro after being drafted and signing his entry-level contract with Winnipeg. However, after 14 games with the Moose, in which he scored two goals and three points, the Jets loaned Lambert to the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds for the remainder of the 2022-23 season. He finished the year with 17 goals and 38 points in 26 games with a +27 rating. He also recorded six goals and 26 points in 17 postseason games with a +13 rating, helping Seattle reach the Memorial Cup Championship game.

Since then, all of Lambert’s hockey has been played in the Jets organization. It’s mostly been spent with Manitoba, with varying lengths of NHL deployments.

Still, many of the same problems have remained. Lambert has high-end offensive talent, but takes a lax, casual defensive approach and doesn’t always seem mentally prepared. Since the 2023-24 season, Lambert has scored 34 goals and 103 points in 159 AHL contests with a ghastly -46 rating. In the NHL, the former first-round pick has recorded three goals and nine points in 42 games with a -9 rating, averaging 10:33 of ice time per game.

Because he’s relatively young (22) and has the offensive talent that he does, it wouldn’t be surprising if a team claimed Lambert off waivers in the next 24 hours. Some of the league’s worst offensive teams, like the Calgary Flames, Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Philadelphia Flyers, wouldn’t lose much by giving Lambert an opportunity.

Furthermore, it’s worth mentioning that Brad’s uncle, Lane Lambert, is the current head coach of the Seattle Kraken. Seattle traded center Shane Wright to the Nashville Predators on Sunday, so Brad could conceivably be brought in to replace him.