New York Islanders Coaching Staff for 2023-24

New York Islanders Head Coach Lane Lambert was named the franchise's eighteenth head coach on May 16, 2022. He succeded the team's former bench boss Barry Trotz. 

The 58-year-old from Canada has played in the NHL before getting his start as a coach. He was drafted by the Detroit Red Wings in 1983 as the 25th overall pick in the 1983 NHL draft. 

The former forward played 283 games in the NHL to record 124 points(58 G & 66 A) in the regular season. In addition to the Wings, he played for the New York Rangers and the Quebec Nordiques(now known as the Colorado Avalanche) in the NHL.

Lambert has played in the AHL, Eishockey-Bundesliga, the Swiss League, and the IHL other than the NHL in a professional career from 1983 to 2001. He began his coaching Career in 2002 with the Mose Jaw Warriors of the WHL as their assistant Coach. 

After two seasons with the Warriors, he left to take the helm for the Prince George Cougars, where he recorded 26-25-7-0 in two seasons with them. He moved over to the AHL in 2005/06 as the assistant coach of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers after 4 seasons in the WHL.

In 2007, Milwaukee Admirals hired Lambert as the head coach after spending a season with them as their assistant coach. He would remain with the team until his promotion to become the assistant coach for the Nashville Predators, the NHL affiliates of the Admirals on June 9, 2011.

The Predators bench was where Lambert met with former Islanders head coach Barry Trotz. He would now serve under Trotz for the Capitals, where he was before joining the Islanders in 2018. and was part of the bench for their 2018 Stanley Cup Run. 

He spent 4 seasons as the associate coach for the Islanders working with Trotz before succeding him in 2022. Trotz was fired on May 9, 2022. 

Former Islanders Head Coaches

The head coaches' history of the Islanders includes eighteen former coaches who led the team since its inception in 1972.

Phil Goyette, the first head coach of the New York Islanders, was replaced midway through the season, and his only experience as a coach remains the 48 games he coached for the team. 

Earl Ingarfield, the second coach, completed the season for the Islanders but did not return in his role. Al Arbour, who coached the Islanders from 1973 to 1986, is the most successful coach in franchise history, leading them to win the Stanley Cup for four consecutive years from 1980 to 1981. 

The 1979 Jack Adams Award Winner returned to the Isles for a second stint with the team after retirement from coaching. He has coached 1,499 games for the Isles with a career record of 738W-37L-223T, making him the winningest coach in New York Islanders History. 

The only other coach to win a Jack Adams with the Franchise is Barry Trotz, who won in 2019. 

Here is the list of the head coaches the New York Islanders have had since 1972:

NY Islanders Assistant Coaches for the 2023-24 season are Doug Houda and John Maclean. Houda has played 101 games with the Islanders. 

John Maclean

Maclean got his coaching career start in 2002 as the Assistant coach of the New Jersey Devils, the team he had spent most of his playing career with. The Devils were the ones to draft him in 1983 as the 6th overall pick.

The Oshawa, Ontario native spent three seasons with the New York Rangers, one with the San Jose Sharks, and two with the Dallas Stars in the NHL.

The Devils Alternate Captain of the 1995 Stanley Cup-winning squad, has coached the AHL team Lowell Devils as their head coach in 2009/10. He served as the Devils head coach briefly in 2010/11 before being fired after a 9-22-2 start to the season. 

After parting ways with the Devils, Maclean joined the Carolina Hurricanes as their assistant coach, spending three seasons with them. He joined the Arizona Coyotes as the assistant coach in 2017, where he spent three seasons before joining the Islanders in 2022. 

Doug Houda

Former Detroit Red Wings Assistant coach Houda joined the Isles in the same month as Maclean. He came to the Isles after spending six seasons on the Wings bench. 

The Blairmore, Alberta native played 561 games in the NHL for the Wings, Hartford Whalers, Los Angeles Kings, Buffalo Sabres, New York Islanders, and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. He started his coaching career in 2004 as the assistant coach of the AHL's Rochester Americans. 

Houda spent 2 seasons on the Americans' bench before getting his NHL coaching start with the Boston Bruins in 2006. He spent 10 seasons as the Bruins Assistant Coach before the Bruins relieved him of his duties in 2016. 

New York Islanders' Goaltending Coach Piero Greco is in his sixth season serving as the team's goalie coach. Islanders are the only team Greco has coached so far.

The 55-year-old served as the goalie coach for the Toronto Marlies for four seasons before joining the Isles. The AHL affiliates of the Toronto Maple Leafs won their first Calder Cup Championship in 2017/18 during his last season with the team.

Before joining the Marlies, he worked for the Owen Sound Attack, Barrie Colts, and the Kitchener Rangers of the OHL between 2002 and 2013. 

The Toronto Ontario native played professionally for 12 years as a goalie from 1990 to 2002. He began his pro career with the Fiemme Cavalese HC in the Italy-A. 

Greco played for the Sheffield Steelers of the British Ice Hockey Super League for two seasons before returning to the Italy-A in 1998 with the Vipiteno. The Steelers are still operational and currently play in the Elite Ice Hockey League in Britain. 

Other than his stints in the European league Greco has played for the Birmingham Bulls of the ECHL. The Bulls, currently known as the Adirondack Thunder, are affiliated with the New Jersey Devils in the NHL and the Ultica Comets in the AHL.

Other than the head coach and assistant coaches the NY islanders coaching staff includes Mitch Korn -Director of Goaltending and Jacques Lemaire - Special Assignment Coach.

Mitch Korn

Korn joined the Islanders on July 26, 2018, and before that worked for the Washington Capitals. He spent three seasons as the Capitals goalie coach and one as their director of goaltending. 

Before joining the Capitals, he had spent sixteen seasons as the goalie coach for the Nashville Predators and seven seasons with the Buffalo Sabres. He got his NHL coaching start with the Sabres in 1991. 

During his time with the Sabres(1991-1998), he worked with six-time Vezina Trophy winner Dominik Hasek. Hasek is a two-time Hart Trophy, a three-time William M. Jennings Trophy, a two-time Lester B. Pearson Award winner, and 2 time Stanley Cup Champion.

Jacques Lemaire

Special Assignment Coach Lemaire joined the Islanders in his role in 2018 and before that served in the same capacity for the Toronto Maple Leafs(2015-2018) and the New Jersey Devils(2011-2015). 

The 78-year-old played in the NHL for the Montreal Canadiens from 1967 to 1979. He played two seasons in the Swiss league before retiring in 1981.

One of the only six players to score the Stanley Cup-winning goals, Lemaire enjoyed a successful coaching career post-retirement as a player. He got his head coaching start in the NHL with the Montreal Canadiens in 1983, coaching them for two seasons. 

The LaSalle, Quebec, served as the head coach for the New Jersey Devils from 1993/94 to 1997/98, leading them to their first Stanley Cup in 95.

He coached the Devils for an additional two seasons during his second term with the franchise from 2009 and 2011. 

The two-time Jack Adams Award winner(1993 & 2003) has coached 1,262 games in the NHL with a career record of 617W-458L-124T-63OTL.

He won his first Jack Adams with the Devils and his second with the Minnesota Wild, which he joined as their inaugural head coach, spending eight seasons with the team.