Carson Lambos’ transition into a bigger role with the Iowa Wild has been more of a steady climb than a sudden leap, and that’s what the organization wanted from one of its most important young defensive prospects.
After a brief taste of NHL action and another half-season of AHL work, Lambos, 23, now looks less like a kid hanging on and more like a player quietly learning how to drive games at the pro level.
In Iowa, the first sign of Lambos settling in has been simple: the coaching staff trusts him. He has logged three straight AHL seasons, appearing in 176 games and posting 44 points, a workload that shows he’s firmly part of the nightly plan rather than a sheltered extra.
He has 11 points in 39 games this year, which ranks him third amongst defensive players with only David Spacek and Ben Gleason ahead of him. His point total reflects a player who’s starting to mix his offense into a responsible minutes-eating role.
Lambos’ raw numbers are modest, but for a 23-year-old defenseman still learning the pro game, consistent usage and incremental growth are the real indicators of progress. Experts have always projected his style as that of a modern, all-around defender rather than a pure offensive specialist. That profile is becoming more visible at the AHL level.
In the WHL, he was known for his strong skating, tight gap control, and ability to move the puck efficiently with stretch passes or quick outlets, traits that have translated into Iowa’s transition game. Iowa doesn’t ask him to freelance end-to-end as much as he did in the WHL. Still, he has become a reliable first touch on breakouts, helping Iowa get out of its zone cleaner and spend less time defending. That ability to calm things down on the back end is often what separates prospect minutes from real trust in a playoff-style environment.
Offensively, his numbers hint at more potential than his usage has allowed so far. Lambos led Iowa defensemen in goals during the 2024-25 season with 5, and has followed that with another season where he sits at or near the top of the blue line in goals again.
What makes that notable is that he has seen very little power-play time. In his early AHL years, 18 of his 19 points came at even strength, with only one power-play point. Most of the man-advantage work went to other defensemen like David Spacek. Producing primarily at five-on-five suggests that his shot from the blue line and his ability to generate rebounds and deflections are already helping Iowa without needing prime offensive deployment.
Defensively, Lambos is starting to look like the kind of steady second-pair option the Wild envisioned when they drafted him in the first round of 2021. Scouting reports going back to his WHL days highlighted tight pressure at the blue line, good gap control, and a willingness to play physically, suggesting he is not shying away from the heavier, older competition of the AHL, an important step for a defender who projects as an all-situations option rather than a sheltered power-play quarterback.
His brief NHL debut in December offered a small but telling snapshot of where he is in his development. Lambos logged just over ten minutes in a 5-2 Minnesota win over the Columbus Blue Jackets, recording a shot before being sent back to Iowa. That one game stint was less about immediate impact and more about giving him a look at NHL pace, structure, and expectations, then dropping him back into a top-four role in Des Moines armed with that experience.
Lambos’ quick reassignment also underscores that the organization still sees the AHL as his primary development ground. He can play bigger minutes and make mistakes without the same spotlight in Des Moines. Within Iowa’s room, Lambos has also leaned on the leadership traits that showed up earlier in his career, when he captained the Winnipeg Ice in the WHL and helped Canada win gold at the 2022 World Juniors.
That background matters on a young AHL blue line, where prospects cycle in and out, and stability is at a premium; having a 23-year-old who has worn a letter and played in big games gives the staff someone they can use in late-game situations and on the penalty kill. Even if he is not wearing a letter in Iowa, they expect he will grow into a quiet on-ice leader simply by playing heavy, honest minutes every night.
What stands out most about Lambos’ settling-in process is how aligned it is with the Wild’s long-term view of him. He may no longer be discussed as a future top-pair star. Still, multiple prospect evaluations now project him as a dependable second-pair, all-situations defender who can eat minutes, contribute some offense, and handle tough matchups.
For an Iowa team built around developing the next wave for St. Paul, Carson Lambos has moved from being a promising name on a list to a dependable all-around defenseman on the back end, and that’s exactly the kind of quiet progress that tends to pay off when a prospect finally makes the jump for good.
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