Brad Lambert living up to expectations as possible 2C

 

Brad Lambert knew he could control only one thing heading into training camp: Himself.

“Go to the rink every day and work my ass off,” the 20-year-old Winnipeg Jets hopeful told reporters on Wednesday morning.

For the Jets’ game on Wednesday night against the Calgary Flames, Lambert was between Nino Niederreiter and Nikita Chibrikov.

Head coach Scott Arniel said Tuesday that he wanted to examine the potential for Lambert to be part of a possible third scoring line when the season opens on Oct. 9 in Edmonton.

Winnipeg’s two top lines appear set, with Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor and Gabriel Vilardi as the top trio, with Nikolaj Ehlers, Vladislav Namestnikov and Cole Perfetti as the second.

While Arniel is keeping things close to his vest, it seems that landing Lambert a position where he can utilize his exceptional skating, shooting, and playmaking skills to create offense is a top objective.

What makes Arniel's prospects of joining the team even more intriguing is what he could do with Lambert.

As they did on Tuesday, he was on a line alongside Niederreiter and Alex Iafallo, which really provides Lambert a chance to be successful both offensively and defensively.