The Islanders will be Lehner's third NHL team since he was selected in the second-round (No. 46) by the Ottawa Senators at the 2009 NHL Draft. The 27-year-old played the past three seasons with the Sabres and was 41-66-22 with a 2.77 GAA and a .916 save percentage. He was 14-26-9 with a 3.01 GAA and .908 save percentage last season.
Trotz is confident the support system is in place for Lehner on and off the ice to be the person and player he is striving to become.
"By sharing it, maybe he can help someone else," Trotz said. "We talked about that. If you hide it, it shows weakness and he's not showing weakness, he's showing strength. With the way I have been, with Lou's values and the organizational values that are now in place, it's about the person first. If you can get the person to be the best person he can be, then he's going to be a better player.
"It starts with the person before any X's and O's or anything else. Robin sharing it, I think it hopefully gets other people maybe in the same situation to maybe step forward and say, 'You know, I need some help in this area,' because it is a very difficult thing to have to go through."
Lehner is also confident he can be the goalie the Islanders desperately need after they allowed an NHL-high 293 goals last season. The Islanders will skate for the first time under Trotz on Friday and host the Philadelphia Flyers in a preseason game at Nassau Coliseum on Sunday. New York opens the regular season at the Carolina Hurricanes on Oct. 4.
"I'm extremely excited to be here," Lehner said. "I feel it's a great group of guys. Very mature group. I feel like management, everything, direction this organization is going is very encouraging. I look forward to starting a new chapter here.
"I really want to do my best. I know I'm a good goalie. I've proven I'm a good goalie. Now just for me, it's proving it off the ice. I have more than enough support. This is it for me. I've got a beautiful family and this is a day-to-day battle for me and I'm looking forward to it. I'm extremely confident with the support I have. The support is the most important thing."
Lehner's hope is that by revealing his personal struggles, it may help someone dealing with a similar situation.
"It was extremely hard," Lehner said of sharing his story. "The main reason I did it was hopefully I'll help someone else to go through what I've gone through. Maybe someone in the League, maybe someone out there …
"It's been an emotional couple of days, but I feel good to have it out and I'm ready to move forward and prepare for a fun season."