The NHL offseason is young, but several stories are already developing for the Minnesota Wild. Following the draft, everyone’s focus will be on what the team looks like when they take the ice for the preseason in September.
One of the more intriguing stories for the Wild is how the defensive corps will shape up. The team recently traded Declan Chisholm and announced that Jonas Brodin could miss the start of the season due to injury. That should leave some opportunities for one of Minnesota’s many defensive prospects to show they belong in the NHL.
That opportunity is crucial for one prospect in particular.
Former first-round pick Carson Lambos.
Lambos entered the Wild organization with a lot of fanfare. DobberProspects described him as a “potential minute-eating two-way defender at the NHL level. An intriguing combination of speed, strength, and skill on the backend with top-pair upside.”
Unfortunately, that potential has yet to materialize for the Canadian defender. He has played two professional seasons, both in Iowa, and has yet to make his NHL debut. His opportunity to do so could be coming as Bill Guerin singled out Lambos and fellow defensive prospect David Spacek as players who would move up the depth chart due to Chisholm’s departure.
“They’ve put in some solid time down there. They’ve gotten better.” Guerin said, “For defensemen, it’s usually a little bit of a longer road. But they’ve shown improvement every year.”
Lambos has improved, but his career is at a fascinating crossroads. He has fallen into the background as a prospect and has seen his stock decline as a result. When Minnesota drafted him, Lambos debuted in Elite Prospects’ Wild prospect rankings at eighth in 2022. Last September, he fell to tenth.
However, the Wild have invested a lot of organizational resources into their defense, which may have contributed to his fall. They picked Zeev Buium 12th in last year’s draft and traded for young defender David Jiricek during the season. They invested in their blueline again at this year’s draft when they picked Theodor Hallquisth with their highest pick in the draft.
Lambos is in a challenging situation because the Wild are deep along the blueline. As DobblerProspects’ scouting report states, Lambos profiles as a contributor at both ends of the ice who can play a significant number of minutes, a role Brock Faber already fills.
The Wild drafted Lambos one year after Faber, and they took him higher in the draft. Minnesota drafted Lambos at 26th overall, while the Los Angeles Kings selected Faber with the 45th pick. At one point, Lambos and Faber were comparable prospects, but that’s no longer the case.
Faber wouldn’t be going anywhere anytime soon with the monster deal he signed last offseason, so Lambos will need another way to become part of Minnesota’s plans.
With so much depth on the blue line, it might be now or never for Lambos to make an impact. He turns 23 next season and can’t afford to have the Wild’s continually growing pool of young blueliners pass him on the depth chart. Fortunately, the defender did show signs of growth in Iowa last season.
The defender upgraded his offense slightly, scoring five goals and 14 assists for 19 points compared to four goals and 10 assists in his previous season. He won’t force his way to St. Paul with those numbers, but they’re notable given he saw almost no power-play time with only one point with an extra attacker.
Lambos’ scoring numbers are encouraging, but the Wild drafted him with the profile of a two-way, minutes-eating defender. His offense is only one aspect of his game. Lambos also showed some promising defensive signs in Iowa that helped boost his stock.
The defender improved dramatically, especially after the Wild traded fellow defensive prospect Daemon Hunt. After Hunt’s departure, Lambos began playing consistent top-pairing minutes, where he regularly played against opponents’ top players.
Former Iowa head coach Brett McLean spoke glowingly about Lambos’ improvement as a dependable defensive force in the second half of last season.
“He’s made a really nice step here this year. Now he is getting tougher assignments in games, playing against some of the other team’s top players,” McLean said, “He has responded well.”
Plus/minus is a noisy stat, but advanced metrics are less available in the AHL, so it’s somewhat noteworthy that Lambos posted a plus-five rating on a team that gave up 251 goals while only scoring 201. Iowa’s -50 goal differential was the third-worst mark in the AHL, but Lambos managed to stay in the positive.
The defender also played a much more disciplined game last season. In the defender’s first AHL season, he spent 64 minutes in the penalty box. However, he cut that number down to 43 minutes this season. With the Wild’s current penalty kill issues (72.4% on the PK in 2024-25), Lambos’ newfound ability to limit his time on the box would be an asset.
Lambos is showing signs of growth, but we still don’t know if he can translate that to the NHL. He’s still young, and defenders do take longer to progress, but he may be running out of time to live up to his first-round pick status.
If Lambos doesn’t make a strong impression out of camp, it’s easy to imagine a situation in which he’s further lost in the shuffle and isn’t seen as a long-term answer in the NHL. He could hold some value as a trade piece in such a situation, but it would be best for him to become a valuable contributor in Minnesota.