Flanked by general manager Jason Botterill at his debut press conference Monday morning, Lane Lambert, the third head coach in Seattle Kraken history, introduced himself as the source of accountability, aggression, and accolades the front office prizes– and the team needs.
“I’m pretty straightforward,” Lambert asserted. “I’m fair but I’m demanding.”
Lambert, 60, is set to begin his second stint as an NHL head coach after being hired by Seattle late last month. The Saskatchewan native’s first came with the New York Islanders and lasted a season-and-a-half, seeing him amass a 61-46-20 record (.559) in that span. Inconsistency necessitated his dismissal according to then-Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello– New York was 19-15-11 and winless in six of their last seven games at the time.
Prior to that, Lambert spent four seasons as an associate coach with the Islanders, four as an assistant coach with the Capitals– with whom he won a Stanley Cup in 2018– and three seasons in the same role with the Predators, all consecutive stops. He arrives in Seattle from Toronto, where he spent the 2024-25 season as an associate coach.
Whereas Bylsma and Dave Hakstol were hired seven and three years after their previous head coaching gigs, respectively, a little over a year has passed since Lambert’s. It’s a time he remembers positively even if he admits there are things he’d do differently now.
“From my standpoint, our defensive structure, the identity that we played with– I’m proud of that,” he said. “There’s certain little things that I will look at and look into changing, but at the end of the day, I’m proud of what happened in New York.”
The Islanders were eliminated in the first round of the 2022-23 playoffs to conclude Lambert’s only full season as head coach. But since 2015, his teams have advanced to the second round or better eight times, an undeniable track record of success in Botterill’s eyes.
“People throw out a lot that there are winners, right? That ‘oh yes, we know what it takes to win.’ That’s not always, truly, the case. You have to win to have that experience. The fact that [Lane’s] won a Stanley Cup, the fact that he won championships as a player, the fact that he’s been in the playoffs so many times, we felt that was another experience, another attribute that would really help our group.”
That Lambert’s coaching philosophy overlaps with the front office’s “vision” for the Kraken– Botterill’s word– also stuck out to the general manager during the hiring process. It’s a vision that understands strong defense not as an end in itself but a means to effective offense.
“I’m proud of the defensive abilities that my teams have had but in saying that, defense is about getting the puck back. If you don’t get the puck back, you know you’re in trouble,” Lambert explained. “So yes, we will be strong defensively. We’ll be strong structurally, but we will also create offense, and we’ll play fast, we’ll be aggressive, we’ll be at the net in the offensive zone. We’ll shoot pucks.”
Seattle’s defense suffered last season in pursuit of the minor offensive improvements the team did see. The Kraken scored the 14th-most goals while allowing the seventh-most last season, all at five-on-five.
Perhaps most importantly, Lambert knows how to enforce the habits that will lead to the improvements he promises– accountability.
“You set a standard and you don’t deflect from that standard, you don’t deviate from that standard,” Lambert asserted. “You do the same things every day, repetition. And if something isn’t right, you take care of it. You have to nip it. That is the key to accountability– you can’t turn a blind eye and let something slide.”