NHL insider reveals the Jets' strategy for trading prized prospect Brad Lambert, drawing parallels to a past high-profile deal.
After seeking permission to seek a trade, some insiders are speaking to the situation between the Winnipeg Jets and high-end prospect, Brad Lambert. On his 32 Thoughts podcast, Elliotte Friedman spoke to the situation and mentioned how the spot Lambert was in is difficult and makes sense that he would look for an opportunity elsewhere.
"Winnipeg is a good team, he's got to be a top six forward. You look at that lineup, there's really not a lot of room for him and maybe 20 years ago, he might have waited longer and been patient, that's not the way today's players are wired," Friedman explained on the situation of young players today.
He would go on to explain how this situation isn't similar to the one the Jets experienced a few years ago with 2022 14th overall pick Rutger McGroarty as Winnipeg has learned from the experience and now knows how to better handle these type of situations.
"They are used to, you know, people saying, maybe I want out or I want to move on, and they're now actually very good at handling it," Friedman started off by saying "McGroarty, it happened with him a couple years ago, what did they do? They were patient, they said, look, if you want McGroarty, you have to give us something that we see equal in return, they got [Brayden] Yager."
Friedman would continue by explaining that the possible return for Lambert could be similar to the trade for Yager, saying that Winnipeg would probably want something "Lambert like in return" and adding that their trade block is well known for what they would want in this kind of a deal. If not for a prospect of the same quality, they would want something else that they can use as a future trade asset like draft picks.
Lambert has appeared in four NHL games this season, scoring one goal while seeing very limited minutes. In total, he has dressed for ten career NHL games over three seasons with one goal and two assists. The 21-year-old scored his first career goal just two weeks ago in a game versus the Pittsburgh Penguins, however, he was again sent back down to the AHL this past Tuesday.
The Finnish forward was an important contributor for his home country at the 2022 World Junior Championship, where he helped secure a silver medal. Lambert has been a consistent performer at the AHL level with the Manitoba Moose, recording 30 goals and 63 assists for 93 points in 141 games.
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