SEATTLE (AP) 鈥� The Seattle Kraken hired Lane Lambert on Thursday night as the third head coach in team history.
Lambert replaces Dan Bylsma, fired after one season.
The 60-year-old Lambert was most recently a head coach for the New York Islanders from 2022 until he was fired on Jan. 20, 2024. He was 61-46-20 with the Islanders, and they qualified for the playoffs once during his tenure.
Last season, the former NHL forward was associate head coach with Toronto.
鈥淚鈥檓 so excited to become the head coach of the Seattle Kraken,鈥� Lambert said in a statement. 鈥淲hen it came time to writing a new chapter, I couldn鈥檛 think of a better fit.鈥�
The hiring comes a little over a month after Bylsma was fired and the Kraken front office experienced a shakeup. Longtime general manager Ron Francis was promoted to president of hockey operations, with assistant Jason Botterill taking over day-to-day responsibilities.
Bringing aboard Lambert marked the first notable hire of his tenure as general manager. Botterill also confirmed April 22 that assistant coach Jessica Campbell will be retained for next season.
鈥淎fter conducting an extensive search, we鈥檙e thrilled to announce Lane as our new head coach,鈥� Botterill said in a statement. 鈥淲e cast a wide net for suitable candidates. Lane impressed us throughout the interview process with his strategy and vision for this team.鈥�
Lambert will have his work cut out to improve a squad that finished seventh in the Pacific Division last season, but the future could be a bit brighter for the Kraken. The franchise has 10 picks across the first two rounds of the next three drafts.
鈥淭his team has a talented group of young players poised to take the next step and a core group of veterans with great leadership qualities,鈥� Lambert said 鈥�... I can鈥檛 wait to get started.鈥�
When addressing reporters at the end of April, though, co-owner Samantha Holloway expressed her dissatisfaction with cycling through two coaches in two years as the Kraken failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs.
鈥淲hat we would like to be is a sustained playoff team,鈥� Holloway said at Kraken Community Iceplex.
As an assistant coach, Lambert鈥檚 teams have had no problem doing as much. Since 2015, teams Lambert has coached have advanced to the second round or better eight times. That includes a Stanley Cup championship in 2018 with the Washington Capitals.
Lambert spent part of six seasons in the NHL as a player with Detroit, the New York Rangers and Quebec.
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AP NHL:
Andrew Destin, The Associated Press
