Lane Lambert Takes the Helm of the Kraken: Expectations of Success
The new Seattle Kraken coach, Lane Lambert, expressed his confidence in leading the team to contend for the playoffs. Although the coach doesn’t feel the pressure to achieve it, his own expectation is precisely that: to turn the Kraken into a competitive team.
Lambert was officially introduced as the Kraken’s coach at the team’s facilities. He was hired on May 29, after serving as an assistant coach with the Toronto Maple Leafs last season. With the Maple Leafs, Lambert helped the team achieve 52 wins and the Atlantic Division title, although they were eliminated in the Eastern Conference semifinals by the Florida Panthers.
This will be the third time Lambert has coached the Kraken, who are entering their fifth season and have only qualified for the playoffs once in their previous four seasons.
Lambert takes over from Dan Bylsma, who was fired on April 21st after one season. Seattle was out of the playoff race before the February break for the 4 Nations Face-off and finished with a record of 35-41-6 (76 points). This was 20 points below the last wild-card spot in the West and five fewer than the Kraken’s 81 points in the 2023-24 season.I have expectations about myself, about my role, and about my abilities. You start on the first day and it’s a process, it’s a journey. If you do the right things during that journey, you do the right things every day and seek to improve every day and stick to the process, the results will come by themselves.
Lane Lambert
General Manager Jason Botterill highlighted Lambert’s qualities: “It became very clear that Lane presented the attributes we were looking for. The combination of presence and knowledge to work with veteran players, and he would also dedicate himself to interacting with young players.”
Seattle ranked in the bottom third of the league in power play (23rd), faceoff win percentage (24th), and shots per game (25th). In addition, they ranked 21st in penalty kill, an area where Lambert helped the Leafs improve from 23rd to fourth.Lambert has held coaching positions in the NHL since 2011. His only head coaching experience was with the New York Islanders, starting at the beginning of the 2022-23 season and ending when he was fired in January 2024. In his only full season, the Islanders made the playoffs but were eliminated in the first round. Lambert reflected on his experience: “You go through an experience like that, they let you go, and you have a lot of time to reflect. If you don’t have an ego, you can say: ‘Wow, I would do this differently or that differently. Or I would do this or that the same way.’ There are certain little things that I will look at and seek to change.”There are priorities in certain areas, but everything must be addressed. Rome cannot be built in a day, and that is the whole process from day one. You start with the process, you start demanding, and you start instilling your systems, your structure, your details. But definitely, our special teams have to improve. We will be better in our defensive zone. I know we will be. So that would be the beginning and the focus.
Lane Lambert
Previously, he was an assistant with Nashville from 2011 to 2014, and then with Washington from 2014 to 2018, where the Capitals won the Stanley Cup in 2018. The Islanders hired him as an associate coach before the 2018-19 season. The teams he has worked for have reached the playoffs 10 times.
Lambert inherits a roster that includes veterans like Jaden Schwartz (26 goals, team-high last season), Jared McCann (22 goals and 61 points, team-high), Eeli Tolvanen (23 goals), and Chandler Stephenson (38 assists). The Kraken also feature promising young talents like Matty Beniers (20 goals, 23 assists) and Shane Wright (19 goals, 25 assists). Lambert concluded: “When you look at the team and the balance, we have great talent. We have veteran players. What is not negotiable is that we have to play the right way, that is the formula.”
