Islanders hire Lane Lambert to be new head coach

When the New York Islanders fired Barry Trotz, President and GM Lou Lamoriello indicated the team needed a "new voice" behind the bench. On Monday we found out that that "new voice" will come from within with Lane Lambert getting the Head Coach job.

It's certainly an odd hire when you think about the reason Trtoz was terminated. Wouldn't Lambert effectively be the same "voice" as Trotz?

New York Islanders hire Lane Lambert to be new head coach

That's a good point of course. But there's always a different dynamic when the assistant coach (or in this case associate coach) becomes the head coach. The assistant/assocaite is there to support the head coach. When they are relieved of that responsibility their own voice comes out.

So while Lambert was there in the Trotz era he will undoubtedly have his own voice in that locker room. What we need to see now is if that voice can take the Islanders in the direction they need to go.

With the way the Isles are constructed, a strong systematic defense still needs to be a big part of the plan, but they need to find a way to squeeze more offense out of the roster. That's what Lambert has to do now.

Lambert should know the strengths and weaknesses of the Trotz system and should know where to make certain tweaks to maximize the offense output of this group while not sacrificing too much of the team defense that was the hallmark of back-to-back Conference Final appearances.

The Islanders had to hire a coach before they could start effectively retooling the roster. Without a coach in place, it's hard to build a plan and identify the right assets for that plan. With Lambert in place now, the Isles, and specifically Lou Lamoriello, can now turn his attention to sorting out his plan to get the pieces this team needs to get back to the playoffs and contention.