CALGARY, Alberta — It is one man’s decision whether to keep Lane Lambert as head coach of the Islanders, and Lou Lamoriello is not one to let people know what he is thinking.
So it is impossible to say with certainty whether Lambert’s job is truly on the line right now.
But with the Islanders entering Saturday’s match against the Flames as losers of seven straight, having won just five times in 16 tries this season and pressure mounting to turn the season around, changing the coach is one of the only available levers for Lamoriello to pull to give his team a jolt.
He could try to make a trade, but with the exceptions of Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Oliver Wahlstrom, there are not many Islanders who seem movable right now.
And with the exception of, coincidentally, the Flames — who saw Nikita Zadorov make a trade request last week and have Noah Hanifin on an expiring deal with reportedly little movement on an extension — there are not many other teams who could be looking to offload.
Lambert has the support of the dressing room, but has looked increasingly without answers as the same set of issues has consistently plagued the Islanders so far in this season.
One factor that might work in his favor, at least for the time being: the relative lack of options for an interim hire. Here is what the list of candidates might look like right now.
John Hynes
Hynes was a candidate for the Rangers’ vacancy in the offseason after being fired by the Predators but was runner-up to Peter Laviolette.
The 48-year-old has been a head coach since 2015 when he came to New Jersey after Lamoriello’s departure, the two never overlapping.
Hynes has never won a playoff series, getting to the postseason four times in nine total years with the Devils and Predators, and his system is more attack-oriented than what the Islanders have become used to.
John MacLean
If Lamoriello wanted to promote an internal candidate, MacLean could be in line since he is an assistant coach under Lambert now.
However, it is hard to imagine the fan base would be on board with such a move.
MacLean was the object of major criticism last offseason since he ran the team’s faltering power play.
His lone stint as a head coach for the 2010-11 Devils was also a disaster, with New Jersey going 9-22-2 before Lamoriello dismissed him.
Adam Oates
The Hall of Fame player has not worked behind an NHL bench since 2015, but has ties to Lamoriello and multiple players on the roster.
He worked for the Devils as an assistant coach and shared the head job with Scott Stevens after Pete DeBoer was fired in 2015.
He is a private skills coach in Toronto who works with, among others, Bo Horvat and Cal Clutterbuck.
Rick Kowalsky
Kowalsky has been a loyal soldier under Lamoriello with both New Jersey and New York at the AHL level, getting behind the Devils’ bench as an assistant for three seasons after Lamoriello left for Toronto.
He was elevated to the head job in Bridgeport this season after Brent Thompson left for Anaheim and would be a first-time NHL head coach.
But that stumbling block did not prevent the Oilers from hiring Kris Knoblauch after they fired Jay Woodcroft earlier this week.
Gerard Gallant
Gallant is known to give teams a jolt in his first season behind the bench, recently taking the Rangers to the conference finals and the Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup Final in respective Year Ones.
He has worked on Long Island before as an assistant coach from 2007-09 and, excluding the likes of Mike Babcock and Joel Quenneville — who are radioactive for public relations reasons — would probably be the most qualified candidate on the market right now.
Jay Woodcroft
It seems unlikely that Woodcroft would find himself in another job so soon after being fired by the Oilers, but it is not impossible.
It was just two seasons ago that he helped Edmonton to a 26-9-3 finish and the conference final after being hired as a midseason replacement for Dave Tippett.
Perhaps he could have a similar effect on Long Island.
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