"I'm fair, but I'm demanding": top 5 storylines of the Lane Lambert era

We did this exercise about a year ago. Opening statements can be a signal of promise, or the receipts of trouble. 

In the Seattle Kraken case, the bill was due on the Dan Bylsma era after just 12 months, who was fired as Kraken head coach six days after they concluded an 82-game regular season with a crash, missing the playoffs by 20 points. 

In other words, not a year that went to plan. 

The fallout: Bylsma out, along with (at least) two assistant coaches in Dave Lowry and goalie guru Steve Briere, and six weeks to hammer away at the most important vacancy, the head coach job, before settling on Lane Lambert as their third bench boss in just the fifth season that lies ahead. 

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Lambert gets his second kick at an NHL coaching job can, one where he admitted he “high fived” his wife to celebrate when receiving news over the phone. 

With the celebrations aside, the work now follows. The mission is clear: return to core values that have been lost in the wash of purported offensive gains. 

 “We’ll be better in our defensive zone,” said Lambert. 

Lambert was formally introduced to the media as Kraken head coach on Monday. He will be tasked with getting the most out of roster cornerstones such as Matty Beniers and Shane Wright, veterans ranging from captain Jordan Eberle to Andre Burakovsky, and youngsters potentially ranging from Berkly Catton to Jani Nyman. 

Then, the Stanley Cup Playoffs. 

Here are five storylines to define the Lane Lambert era: 

1.        Lambert is a defensive minded coach. But don’t let that mistake you for an identity that resembles the suffocating dead puck era. 

Lambert on Monday consistently hit on the priority of defensive fundamentals that the Kraken abandoned last season. Toughness was defined not in a vacuum of dropping the gloves every other period (those days in hockey are long gone), but rather in the essentials of winning footraces (coaches also call this “50/50 puck battles”), getting bodies in shot lanes to face 90 miles an hour-plus vulcanized rubber, and what Lambert called getting to “certain areas.” 

In code speak: get to the front of the net. According to naturalstattrick.com, in any of their first four years, they’ve never finished higher than 25th with high danger chances in the offensive zone. 

However, the Kraken are ready to embark on a new regime that wants to move the needle back to defense, but without reckless abandon. General manager Jason Botterill hinted after Bylsma’s dismissal that the team would maintain a skating personality. Lambert on Monday offered no deviation, suggesting the simple but effective meaning of defense: use it to get the puck back. 

In essence, defense is the plan for their foundation. Speed is their identity. 

“We'll be strong defensively,” said Lambert. “We'll be strong structurally, but we will also create offense. And we'll play fast.” 

2.        Can special teams turn the corner? 

Evaluating the power play can be tricky. Sometimes, it’s the system, sometimes, it’s the personnel, and sometimes, it’s bad luck against great goaltending. The penalty kill, meanwhile is often evaluated on a system and effort level, with star players to “grinder” type of roles used to squash any kind of power play threat. 

Plenty of question marks still exist on the Kraken power play. Bob Woods and Jessica Campbell each had a hand in the units last year, where the Kraken sunk from 17th to 23rd last year with new coaches behind the bench. Lambert confirmed Campbell will return next season. Woods’ status is unclear, with Lambert saying the rest of the staff, including Woods, are under evaluation. 

The variables at play include personnel, and depending on offseason hot stove activity, new players could be in the mix.  

The penalty kill though is where Lambert has delivered his most polished work. Dave Lowry held those reins last year, but is moving on (as is Briere). Lambert’s authority on that part of special teams slightly improved Toronto’s shorthanded units last year, and bolstered the Islanders to the game’s elite. Preparation and structure are a pair of Lambert core values, which influenced the units he’s conducted over the years. 

“You start demanding, and you start instilling your systems, your structure, your detail, we go from there, but definitely our special teams - our special teams have to be better,” said Lambert. 

3.        Can the Kraken record in back-to-back games turn the corner? 

This was one of the biggest sore spots in a sore spot 2024-25 season. Going 0-12 in all 12 “back-to-back games” – with 24 points dumped off the table – didn’t just stunt any kind of playoff hopes. They torpedoed them. 

Lambert’s Islanders went 8-6-1 in the second leg of back-to-back games two years ago, his only full season running the bench on Long Island. There are no guarantees similar success will be duplicated. Preparing for back-to-back games in the Metro Division, where four teams reside no more than 93 miles apart, is much different than the torrid travel of the Pacific Division, where the closest opponent to the Kraken, outside of the Canucks, is Calgary – 839 miles away. 

Still, Lambert believes a fundamental approach to how the Kraken play will translate in those grueling and demanding stretches of the schedule. When the legs feel like boat anchors with fatigue, intellectual muscle memory is key. 

“We have a back-to-back record that wasn't good last year,” said Lambert. “That's going to change because of the structure and the detail.”

4.        Which forward is due for the biggest redemption season?  

If last year is a gauge, it appears Chandler Stephenson, Jaden Schwartz, Shane Wright, Brandon Montour, Kaapo Kakko, and Eeli Tolvanen are fine. They flourished in a relaxed scheme that led to a slight uptick in overall offensive production, despite the season’s fate. 

Aside from that, several players need a bounce back this year. In his third season, Matty Beniers struggled to hit 20 goals. He hit 43 points, just six more than his early career-low of 37. Veteran Jared McCann plummeted to 22 goals, his lowest since coming to Seattle. Then there’s Andre Burakovsky – entering the penultimate season of his five-year contract and a former Lambert pupil with the Capitals, who hasn’t seen a 20-goal season since winning the Stanley Cup in Colorado three years ago. 

Part of Lambert’s vision is to get the most out of his veteran core, akin to Nashville with Roman Josi and Filip Forsberg, Washington with Alex Ovechkin, the Islanders with Mat Barzal and Eberle, and the Maple Leafs with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. 

“They know exactly what to expect,” said Lambert. “I'm pretty straightforward. I'm fair, but I'm demanding, and they know exactly what they're going to get.” 

“They're aware of the detail that we will play with, and they're excited about it.” 

5.        What’s the ceiling of the Lane Lambert era? 

The Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2026 weren’t directly articulated as a goal in Lambert’s opening news conference, but the direction was implied. The word “win” in various forms were used by Lambert and Botterill a combined six times. 

It’s clear that after two straight seasons of falling short of the playoffs, a return for the first time since 2023 is crucial, if not critical. Botterill, conceding in April that a long path lies ahead before the transformation into a contender, still was a part of the Kraken brass chorus who articulated the word “win” numerous times. Chief executive officer Tod Leiweke told 93.3 KJR-FM before the trade deadline, the Kraken refused to pivot to a rebuild. 

Lambert, who said he didn’t “feel the pressure” of reaching the postseason and chose to paint a long-term picture of development and process, has missed the playoffs as a coach just once since 2014, excluding last season when he was fired and replaced by Patrick Roy on Long Island. 

This all happened in the blink of an eye, one season after Lambert turned a Lou Lamoriello-built Islanders team that missed the playoffs into a wild card squad with a 42-31-9 record. Challenges to duplicate that turnaround in Seattle lie ahead with Los Angeles, Minnesota, Utah, St. Louis, Calgary, and a rapidly maturing Anaheim squad all vying for playoff spots in the Western Conference, outside of the juggernauts such as Winnipeg, Vegas, Edmonton, Dallas, and Colorado. A good chance exists that significant change will impact the Kraken roster this summer, with Catton and Nyman ready to contend for jobs while imported talent could be potentially arriving, and established names departing, in an offseason that Botterill said he intends to operate with an “aggressive” line. 

The journey along the way, Lambert said, will be paved with an accountable approach. 

“If something isn't right, you take care of it,” said Lambert. “You have to nip it. That is the key to the accountability. You can't turn a blind eye and let something slide.”