For Carson Lambos, Thursday was just another school day at Rink Hockey Academy in Winnipeg.
However, just after his metalworking class began, the young 15-year-old defenceman learned he had been selected second overall by the Kootenay Ice in the WHL Bantam draft.
Lambos said he kept up his regular routine heading into draft day.
“I kept it pretty normal,” Lambos said. “Started class at the same time as always and went to all my classes and watched the draft on my phone. My teachers were nice enough to put it up on their powerpoints and projectors there so we could all watch it and saw my name come up alongside a lot of my teammates, so it was a super-cool experience and a really fun day.”
Lambos will join a Kootenay Ice pool of players and prospects that have elite upside with the selection of Peyton Krebs first overall two years ago and Connor McClennon at second overall last year.
Lambos said he was hoping to hear his name called anywhere in the draft order and added that he was ‘super happy’ to be chosen by the Kootenay Ice. Despite living in Winnipeg, he’s made it out to B.C. before as part of his experiences playing academy hockey in the Canadian Sport School Bantam Hockey League (CSSHL).
During his last season in the academy program, he put up 15 goals and 25 assists in 30 games.
“I would say I’m a 200-foot defenceman, somebody who takes pride in my game in the D-zone,” Lambos said. “I try to play hard and aggressive and keep the puck out of the net, but I also like to contribute to the team’s offence; never be shy or afraid to jump up and make plays to hopefully lead to goals.”
Lambos said he draws inspiration from how Los Angeles Kings defensive star Drew Doughty plays in all three zones.
“He’s a phenomenal player,” said Lambos. “He’s super intense, he plays with a lot of character and he plays hard in his D-zone and he takes pride in that side of his game and he also really helps contribute to his team’s offence as well.”
For Kootenay Ice scouting director Jake Heisinger, the chance to take Lambos at second overall was a perfect opportunity for the club considering he was at the top of their draft rankings all season.
“To be honest, the first time we saw Carson, he was our number one guy and that didn’t change throughout the year,” Heisinger said. “With the way things played out, we ended up picking high and had a chance to grab him, so we’re really excited about that.
“…He can skate, he shoots hard, he plays hard, he competes. He’s a good teammate, he really does everything well and we’re really excited to have him with the Ice.”
Lambos has some second-hand WHL experience already by living vicariously through his older brother, Jonathon. The elder sibling, a third round pick of the Victoria Royals in 2016, was traded closer to home this past deadline to the Brandon Wheat Kings in a deal that sent Wheaties captain Tanner Kaspick and prospect Cameron MacDonald to Vancouver Island in exchange for a pair of first-round picks, Lambos and fellow prospect Ty Thorpe.
“He played a game with Brandon this year,” Lambos said of his older brother. “I was lucky enough to go and watch him play his first Western League game so it was super exciting and cool for him. He’s a hard worker and I just try to do a lot of the things he does.”
Lambos joined the Rink Hockey Academy two years ago and knew right away the program would be a great fit. In his first year, he piled up near identical numbers as his draft year, potting 15 goals and 23 assists for 38 points.
“The program’s been awesome for me,” Lambos said. “Last year, my first year of Bantam, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect, but I was super happy and super excited with the way things worked out, with the way I was able to develop under great coaching, great trainers. Everything’s been really awesome with the program and academics as well. Top to bottom, it’s phenomenal.”
All told, the Rink Hockey Academy had a whopping 10 players drafted out of their program, including two first-round selections and three second-round selections.
Building through the draft
Prior to Kootenay’s first selection, the Edmonton Oil Kings held the first overall pick, taking forward Dylan Guenther out of the Northern Alberta Xtreme Bantam Prep program in Edmonton.
However, after the first round, the Ice went back to work with two second-round selections, picking up right-hand defenceman Karter Prosofsky (26th overall) and right wing forward Skylar Bruce (29th overall).
Prosofsky was drafted out of the Pacific Coast Hockey Academy Bantam Prep program, tallying eight goals and 10 assists in 24 games this past season. Bruce, a teammate of Lambos in the Rink Hockey Academy program in Winnipeg, tallied 21 goals and notched 19 assists in 30 games.
Kootenay then traded their third-round pick to the Oil Kings in exchange for forward Davis Murray, a two year WHL veteran. Kootenay also went without a fourth-round pick, making that extra second-rounder that much more valuable, said Heisinger.
“It was huge,” Heisinger said. “We didn’t have those mid-round picks, so we were sitting out there for a little bit, but it was nice to get Carson and have those two seconds and get Karter and Skylar.”
Heading into the fifth round, the team elected to take goaltender Nathan Airey out of the Airdrie Xtreme Bantam program, who posted a 1.86 goals against average and a .928 save percentage in 16 regular season games, good for second place in the league during the regular season. Airey then backstopped his squad to an Alberta bantam championship and also to runner up status at the Western Bantam AAA Championship.
Heading into the later rounds — indeed, throughout the entire draft — Heisinger said the philosophy was to take the best player available.
“We were looking for a specific player, and by specific player, I mean a specific type throughout the entire draft, so it’s a skilled player that can skate and can think,” Heisinger said. “We followed that right throughout when we were making our decisions.”
Kootenay plucked Ethan Sundar in the sixth round, a forward out of the St. Albert Sabres Bantam program, where he tallied 28 goals and 36 assists in 36 regular season games, finishing second in the league scoring race.
Defenceman Hughie Hooker was taken in the seventh round out of the Winnipeg Monarchs Bantam program, earning 15 goals and 20 assists during his last season.
Forward Evan Waldie was selected in the eighth round out of the OHA Edmonton Bantam Prep program of the CSSHL, scoring 20 goals and the same number of assists in 29 games played this past season.
In the ninth round, forward Kevin Anderson was chosen out of Saskatchewan’s Notre Dame Hounds Bantam Prep program, tallying 28 points in 29 games last season.
Colby Ball, a defenceman, rounded out Kootenay’s work at the draft table in the 10th round, coming into the WHL club’s fold out of the Sherwood Park Flyers Bantam program with 19 points last season.
All in all, the Ice ended up with four forwards, four defencemen and one goaltender.
“Today is a very exciting day for our franchise, we were committed to following a plan and taking the best player available when it was our turn to pick,” said Matt Cockell, President and General Manager, in a press release. “Jake, Taras, Zenon and our staff did a tremendous job.”
