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Lane Lambert Named Head Coach of the Seattle Kraken

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers | By Jim Bay | Last updated May 29, 2025 11:49 PM ET

On Thursday, (May 29) the Seattle Kraken announced that Lane Lambert was hired as head coach of their team. Lambert was an associate coach for the Toronto Maple Leafs this season under Craig Berube. Toronto (52-26-4) won the Atlantic Division and reached the Eastern Conference Second Round, a Game 7 loss to the Florida Panthers.

There's a new bench boss in the Emerald City!

Lane Lambert has been named the head coach of the @SeattleKraken! pic.twitter.com/pyVmLSpGdz
— NHL (@NHL) May 30, 2025

Lambert was the Islanders’ associate coach under Barry Trotz for four seasons (2018-22) and won the Stanley Cup as Trotz’s assistant with the Washington Capitals in 2018. He was an assistant with the Nashville Predators from 2011 to 2014 under Trotz, coached Milwaukee of the American Hockey League (AHL) for four seasons (2007-2011), and served as an assistant for the Islanders’ AHL affiliate in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 2006-07.

Lambert 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.

General manager Jeff Botterill had confirmed in April that assistant coach Jessica Campbell will be retained for next season, with decisions on the rest of the coaching staff coming at a later date. Campbell became the first woman to coach behind an NHL bench after following former head coach Dan Bylsma to Seattle from Coachella Valley.

The Kraken (35-41-6) missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the third time in their four seasons, finishing seventh in the Pacific Division and 20 points behind the St. Louis Blues for the second wild card in the Western Conference.