Lambert To Remain Islanders Head Coach Following 2022-23 Season

New York Islanders president and general manager Lou Lamoriello met with the media on Tuesday and shared that Lane Lambert will remain the head coach after his first season.

Silence.

That's all there was from upper management after the New York Islanders fell 2-1 in overtime of Game Six on Apr. 29. 

What was to happen to first-year head coach Lane Lambert? Was general manager Lou Lamoriello, whose contract was believed to be done following the 2021-22 season, going to be back?

Silence.

After neither spoke to the media on locker room cleanout day on May 1, there were rumbles that change could be coming. 

On Tuesday, Lamoriello met with the media and shared that Lambert will remain as the Islanders' head coach.

"I think one of the things that I respected is that during the tough time, during that middle of the year (struggles), he kept a very even composure and kept a calmness which I think was very important," Lamoriello said regarding Lambert.

As for contract talks involving Lambert and himself, Lamoriello had this to say:  "I don't know why these are such difficult questions when we are here. And as far as contractual situations, I think they're all personal. We're both under contract. Have been and will be, and I think that's all that is necessary."

Lambert, who joined the coaching staff as an assistant when Barry Trotz came over in the summer of 2018, led the Islanders to a 42-31-9 record.

Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello fired Trotz after missing the playoffs in 2021, citing that the team needed a new voice, before appointing associate head coach Lane Lambert. 

Lambert did get the Islanders back into the postseason as the top wild-card team in the East, with the playoff-clinching game coming in Game 82. 

He did navigate the Islanders through treacherous waters, as injuries and lackluster play had them down and out once January came to a close.

Despite the injuries, the 59-year-old head coach found a way to ignite the troops, as the Islanders played better hockey in the second half, enough to get in.

"I thought did a phenomenal job," Islanders captain Anders Lee said. "We had a lot of different swings throughout the season, a lot of things that we had to handle, and he got us to a place where we were playing some of our better hockey down the stretch to put ourselves in, and it gave us an opportunity."

"He's a guy who you really want to play well for," defenseman Adam Pelech said. "So I think his transition to the head coach was seamless, and I think he did a great job."

There's no question that Lambert made his fair share of rookie mistakes in year one. 

There were countless times, ahead of critical games, where the Islanders just came out flat, seemingly unprepared for the task at hand.

It led to a handful of horrific losses to "weaker" teams, with the Islanders being bailed out by the weak play of playoff-hopeful foes. 

In the postseason, the Islanders fell in six games to the Carolina Hurricanes, as Rod Brind'Amour flaunted his experience as a bench boss, and Lambert ultimately could not keep up. 

While Lambert showed a willingness to sit a veteran in Josh Bailey, in favor of younger players, and established a looser system that provided more offense early in the campaign, there were mistakes, rookie mistakes, that came back to bite him.

The power play, which was coached by John MacLean, struggled mightily this season (15.8 percent), and Lambert did make appropriate adjustments. 

There was an over-reliability on the fourth line in the playoffs, a line that struggled. 

Kyle Palmieri, one of the Islanders' strongest players in the postseason, did not play the minutes he likely should have. The same could be said for Mathew Barzal, whose minutes were down after missing the final 23 games of the regular season. 

Lamoriello knew that Lambert would make rookie mistakes in his first season as an NHL head coach, and Lambert gets another chance to prove he is the right person for the job. 

Lambert was not made available to the media.