NHL Prospect Roundup: Winnipeg Jets’ Brad Lambert is fired up

Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports

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Sometimes, all it takes is a kick in the pants to find your mojo.

That’s exactly the case for Winnipeg Jets prospect Brad Lambert. Once considered one of the top prospects for 2023, 2022, Lambert fell to 30th as scouts were concerned with his work ethic and consistency. He was healthy scratched in Finland’s last two games at the 2022 World Junior Championship and had just 10 points in 49 Liiga games last year, a step down from his 15-point output a year prior.

Still, many believed he could be a useful NHLer, and he showed some promising signs during training camp with the Jets. A few quiet months later and he’s in the WHL, where he’s finally starting to play some solid hockey on a consistent basis.

We’ll look at his play, and nine other names you need to know, in this week’s NHL Prospect Roundup:

WHL

– Brad Lambert‘s season has been a big mixed bag. It started with a solid pre-season with the Winnipeg Jets before getting sent down to the AHL. He had just three points in 14 games before getting loaned out to Finland’s world junior effort, where he had just one goal en route to a disappointing finish. The Jets elected to send him down to the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds to revive his season, and he’s now up to 11 goals and 21 points in just 13 games. You’d expect big things from a 19-year-old with three years of pro experience, but Lambert needed to find his confidence – and he has it now. The Thunderbirds will factor into the WHL championship, and adding Lambert and Dylan Guenther to a lineup that already contains Reid Schaefer, Jared Davidson and Lucas Ciona will go a long way.

– Speaking of the Thunderbirds, how about Nolan Allan? The 19-year-old defender had the best game of his junior career on Tuesday, scoring a goal and adding three assists in a big win over the Victoria Royals. Allan also got into a fight early in the third period the night before, also against Victoria, with the big defender earning a solid 17 minutes in penalties. The Chicago Blackhawks didn’t draft him 32nd overall in 2021 for his offense, though. His physicality, skating and solid defensive zone play make him one of the better prospects in the team’s system, and he projects to be more of a shutdown option. At the very least, he’s making himself known right now.

OHL

– Nashville Predators prospect Nolan Burke had an excellent week for the Sarnia Sting, scoring five goals and adding three assists for eight points in three games, earning OHL’s player of the week honors. Burke has 36 goals and 62 points in 44 games, putting him at just under a 50-goal projection as a fifth-year OHLer. The Predators signed him as an undrafted free agent in November and he could head to the AHL once the season concludes. It’ll be interesting to see how the Preds view Burke’s long-term potential after he took a while to find his footing in major junior, but he’s got some solid raw skills.

QMJHL

– A seventh-round pick by the Philadelphia Flyers last year, forward Alexis Gendron has found some life with Gatineau. Gendron had 34 points in 29 games with Blainville-Boisbriand before getting traded, and now he has a whopping 17 goals and 26 points since getting moved. One of the best goal-scorers in the QMJHL, Gendron is on pace for 50 this year in 63 games, blowing well beyond his 30 from his breakthrough season a year ago. Gendron is small at 5-foot-9, but he’s a slick puckhandler and is agile as they come. His small frame doesn’t help, but it’ll be interesting to see how he manages once he eventually makes it to the AHL. It’s too early to say the Flyers found tremendous value late in the draft, but he knows how to score.

USHL

– The Chicago Steel already had one of the most loaded teams in the USHL ahead of the trade deadline. But adding New York Islanders prospect Quinn Finley was icing on the cake. He had a solid 27 points in 23 games with Madison, but now Quinley is up to seven goals and 19 points in 14 games with the Steel, integrating nicely into a lineup that has NHL prospect Nicholas Moldenhauer (Toronto) and Zam Plante (Pittsburgh), as well as top 2024 draft prospect Macklin Celebrini. Finley, a third-round pick in 2022, has played his best hockey as of late, highlighted by a four-point effort against the USNTDP on Saturday. He’s got a solid chance of winning his second Clark Cup championship before heading off to the University of Wisconsin.

NCAA

– Harvard’s Sean Farrell is now the NCAA’s leading scorer among NHL-drafted prospects after putting up 12 points in his last five games. He has 46 points in 27 games as a college sophomore, just three points behind 2023 draft star Adam Fantilli for the college lead. The Montreal Canadiens took Farrell 124th overall in 2020, and all he has done is exceed expectations – including great showings at the Olympics and World Championship with the United States. Farrell is listed at 5-foot-9, but the lack of size hasn’t hurt him up to this point. That being said, the pro game is an entirely different animal.

AHL

– Nobody will mistake Will Cuylle for being a high-offense, all-the-time type forward. But the New York Rangers prospect has an excellent shot, hard work ethic and a penchant for always getting in everyone’s head. Since getting a two-game call-up earlier in the month, Cuylle has three points in five games for Hartford, one of the lowest-scoring teams in the Atlantic. Cuylle’s 24 points in 47 games is a solid first step for the 21-year-old rookie pro, but keep an eye on him ahead of the NHL’s trade deadline as the Rangers look to go all the way.

– Jordan Spence is another player to watch ahead of the deadline. With 37 points in 44 games, he’s the highest-scoring U-22 defenseman in the AHL and is good for third on the Ontario Reign, regardless of position. Spence has looked OK in his 27 games over the past two seasons with the Los Angeles Kings but hasn’t managed to break through the defensive logjam. Could he be a valuable deadline acquisition?

Liiga

– I personally think Topi Niemela has the potential to be the best prospect in the Toronto Maple Leafs‘ system, and he’s looking sharp at the moment. The 20-year-old scored twice on Friday against HPK, marking the first multi-goal game of his career. He should end up with about 20 points, which would make him the only U-21 NHL-drafted blueliner to achieve that this season. It’s a bit of a step down from his 32-point output a year ago, but he’s expected to join the AHL’s Toronto Marlies at the end of the season, which could be a big boost for the club heading into the Calder Cup playoffs.

HockeyAllsvenskan

– No NHL prospect has as many points in the second-tier Swedish league as Nikola Pasic, drafted 189th by the New Jersey Devils in 2019. Pasic has 18 goals and 51 points in 46 games with Sodertalje SK, a massive step up from his 15 points in 29 games last year. When he was drafted in the seventh round, Pasic looked like an absolute steal. The numbers are starting to line up, even if it’s not in the top Swedish league. He had a 13-game run with Linkoping in the SHL last year and failed to record a point, but his production this year is a cheerful sight. He’s 22 and doesn’t have a deal for next season, so we’ll see what happens next.