Islanders Fire Ex-Predators Assistant, Barry Trotz Successor Lane Lambert

The Lane Lambert era in New York lasted just 127 games.

The former Nashville Predators assistant who replaced Barry Trotz as head coach of the Islanders in 2022 was fired on Saturday as announced by the team. He had a 61-46-20 record with just two playoff wins.

The Islanders named former Colorado Avalanche head coach and Hall of Fame goaltender Patrick Roy as Lambert’s successor. Roy won a Memorial Cup last season as head coach of the Quebec Remparts in the QMJHL.

Lambert got his start in the Predators organization as the head coach of the Milwaukee Admirals in 2007. He had a 178-103-39 in four seasons with the Ads with four playoff appearances and two Central Division titles before being promoted to an assistant coach with the Predators on Trotz’s staff in 2011.

Lambert followed Trotz to the Islanders in 2018 and took over as head coach after Trotz was fired in 2022 after going 152-102-34 in four seasons. The Islanders finished in fourth place in the Metropolitan Division in Lambert’s first season at the helm last year, losing to the Carolina Hurricanes in the opening round of the playoffs.

Many believe New York (19-15-11, 49 points) has underachieved this year, sitting in a fifth-place tie with the New Jersey Devils in the Metro through 45 games. The Islanders are tied for the seventh-most goals allowed (151), and they rank 23rd in goals scored (132) with the third-worst penalty kill (73%) in the league.

“Well, certainly, watching our team play, I felt that the inconsistency that has been going on for some period of time was not going to end,” Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello said, via NHL.com. “And when I had the opportunity to meet with Patrick recently, I felt that this was the best for our organization and to go forward. Always a tough decision. [I have] tremendous respect for Lane. But right now, we have to get right back on track … There is always a line, a fine line and that fine line in my mind was crossed. This was the time to do it.”

Lambert is the second Admirals alum to lose his head-coaching job this year. The Minnesota Wild fired Dean Evason, who coached in Milwaukee from 2012 to 2018, at the end of November after four-plus seasons. He was replaced by another former Predators coach, John Hynes.

For more info on the Islanders head-coaching change, check out NYI Hockey Now.

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