A native of Melfort, Saskatchewan, Lambert was an assistant with the Nashville Predators from 2011-14. He coached Milwaukee of the American Hockey League for four seasons (2007-11) and was an assistant for Bridgeport, the Islanders' AHL affiliate in 2006-07. He was a second-round pick (No. 25) of the Detroit Red Wings in the 1983 NHL Draft and had 124 points (58 goals, 66 assists) in 283 regular-season games as a forward for the Red Wings, New York Rangers and Quebec Nordiques.
"It's a good day, something I have been preparing for, for a long time throughout many years in the game and many years as a coach, so there's a level of excitement," Lambert said. "There's so many things that [Trotz has] done that I've learned from. Now it flips for me to be the head coach. I envision us taking this summer to evaluate what we have and moving forward from there and giving our team the best opportunity to win."
Lamoriello said he believed the players needed a new voice after New York (37-35-10) missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2018, finishing 16 points behind Washington for the second wild card from the Eastern Conference. It was the first time in four seasons under Trotz and Lamoriello the Islanders missed the postseason. They had reached the third round of the playoffs the previous two seasons, including a loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Semifinals last year.
"When you say a new voice, there's a tremendous difference between an assistant coach and a coach," Lamoriello said. "It's bigger than I think anyone can sometimes understand. You learn when you're an assistant coach sometimes more of what you wouldn't do and sometimes what you would do, and vice versa. There is, without question, a new voice. Maybe it wasn't the right phrase … but it is a new voice in the position that Lane is now in. I would say a big new voice because we're talking about two totally different personalities with reference to Barry and Lane."
Trotz was entering the final season of his contract, which Lamoriello said May 9 was not a factor in the decision. He is a two-time winner of the Jack Adams Award voted as NHL coach of the year (2016 with Capitals, 2019 with Islanders). He was 152-102-34 in four seasons, and 28-21 in the playoffs for New York. Trotz's 1,812 regular-season games are second in NHL history to Scotty Bowman (2,141), and his 914 wins in 23 NHL seasons with the Predators, Capitals and Islanders are third behind Bowman (1,244) and Joel Quenneville (969).
Assistants John Gruden and Jim Hiller are under contract for next season and their roles will be evaluated in the offseason. Director of goaltending Mitch Korn was with Lambert and Trotz when the Capitals won the Stanley Cup.
"The one thing that will never change is our identity," Lambert said. "We want to be hard to play against. That's just who we are and that will never change from our standpoint."
Trotz is one of four coaches fired since the regular season ended. Peter DeBoer was fired by the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday, Jeff Blashill by the Red Wings on April 30 and Mike Yeo by the Philadelphia Flyers on May 3. The Winnipeg Jets announced May 2 they would have a coaching search and Dave Lowry, who replaced Paul Maurice as coach Dec. 17, could be interviewed for the job. The Chicago Blackhawks are conducting a search that includes Derek King, who replaced Jeremy Colliton as coach Nov. 6.
