Kraken Round Out 2025 Coaching Staff Under Lane Lambert
Head coach Lane Lambert names Chris Taylor, Aaron Schneekloth, and Colin Zulianello as newest coaching staff hires
By Miracle Lucketti, edited by Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA - With our Seattle Kraken seeking to establish a winning team culture heading into their fifth season in franchise history, head coach Lane Lambert has added some new voices to the coaching staff to join him for his first year at the helm in the Pacific Northwest. Chris Taylor, former New Jersey Devils assistant coach, and Aaron Schneekloth, former AHL Colorado Eagles head coach, join Lambert’s staff as assistant coaches. Colin Zulianello from the team’s AHL affiliate Coachella Valley Firebirds joins the room as a goalie coach to replace Steve Briere. That brand new trio will join returning assistant coach Jessica Campbell, video assistant coach Tim Ohashi, and video analyst Brady Morgan to complete the coaching staff for Lambert’s first season as the head coach in Seattle.
“I’m excited to have Aaron, Chris and Colin join our coaching staff. Each of them brings a wealth of experience and a unique voice to the locker room, and Colin’s familiarity with the goalies in our system will be a huge benefit heading into the upcoming season.”
Chris Taylor, 53-years-old, played across several leagues including the NHL, AHL, IHL, and in Europe from 1992 to 2011. He appeared in 149 NHL games and over 600 AHL games; with the most noteworthy being his time in Rochester, where Taylor still lands among the top five players in assists, points, and games played. He played eleven seasons overall in the AHL, recording 560 points (167 goals and 393 assists) while adding 36 points (Ten goals and 26 assists) in 41 Calder Cup Playoff contests. Taylor was originally selected by the Islanders with the 27th overall pick in the 1990 NHL Draft, so there’s an Islanders tie there also considering that Lane Lambert of course was the head coach of the franchise much later on.
After his playing career ended in Rochester he remained there, transitioning to coaching in 2011. In 2016, he accepted an assistant coaching position with the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins where the team recorded a 43-27-6 record (92 points), going to the Conference Semi-Finals. Following that stop, Taylor returned to Rochester to accept a head coaching position in 2017 where he guided the team to a 116-65-33 record in 214 games over the span of his time coaching there and his points percentage (.620) was the fourth best in the AHL during the three-year span. In 2020, Taylor accepted an assistant coaching position for the NHL’s New Jersey Devils, assisting the team through two playoff appearances before joining Lambert’s coaching staff now. During his time with New Jersey, the Devils qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in two of the past three seasons and last years campaign saw them finish in third place in the Metropolitan Division with 91 points (42-33-7), a ten-point improvement over the season prior.
Aaron Schneekloth, now 46-years-old, has a long and storied career in hockey between his playing days and coaching days, having appeared in over 600 games over 12 seasons played professionally throughout his career spanning the AHL, ECHL, and CHL. Schneekloth’s playing career featured plenty of accolades, including winning a NCAA Championship with the University of North Dakota in 2000 and a CHL Championship in 2007 plus individual awards such as the ECHL's Defenseman of the Year in 2012, CHL's Most Outstanding Defenseman in both 2009 and 2010, being selected as a four-time All-Star, included as a member of both the CHL's All-Decade Team and the Colorado Eagles All-Decade Team, named to the All-ECHL Team in 2012 and was voted to the All-CHL Team on three separate occasions (2008, 2009 & 2010). His impressive playing career ultimately saw him finish as the Eagles' all-time leader in points (356), goals (111) and assists (245) by a blueliner.
Since his remarkable playing career came to a close, Schneekloth has continued his success in the hockey world by spending the past 12 years on the Eagles' coaching staff, which included a pair of championship seasons as the team's head coach while the Eagles were in the ECHL. He’s played a large role in the success that the Eagles have seen over the last decade or so, being named as a runner-up for ECHL Coach of the Year in 2016-17 and 2017-18 when Colorado won back-to-back Kelly Cup titles, and helping the Eagles earn the most wins (43) in a single season during the 2024-25 campaign they sat atop the Pacific Division with a 43-21-8 mark (94 points) for the first time since the team was promoted to the AHL in 2018. Schneekloth will depart a familiar situation in Colorado, where he’s been the head coach of the AHL Eagles the last two seasons, to join Lambert’s staff and hopefully bring some of that winning pedigree with him.
Colin Zulianello,, the lone hire from within the franchise, played throughout his college (Colorado College) tenure and then professionally in the ECHL and the AHL which includes 122 career regular-season appearances in the ECHL from 2001-05 with Las Vegas, Idaho, San Diego, Long Beach, Charlotte, Augusta and Mississippi, four games in the AHL with Springfield from 2001-03. Zulianello began his coaching career in 2008 at Lakehead University where he worked as a goalie coach until 2016. In 2016, Colin joined the AHL’s Stockton Heat where he remained until 2019. Then, in 2022, Zulianello joined the Kraken’s AHL affiliate Coachella Valley Firebird’s coaching staff as a goalie coach, where he worked closely with both Joey Daccord and Nikke Kokko. Zulianello also holds a master’s degree in education, which must come in handy when teaching young goalie’s new tricks. Zulianello’s work with Kokko resulted in the young goalie ranking first among AHL rookie netminders in wins (20), goals-against average (2.26) and save percentage (.913), while also being named to the AHL All-Rookie Team.
“It is vital to trust in people to do their jobs. The cohesiveness of the staff and the chemistry of the staff, it can’t be overstated. You spend upward of 300 days a year, all in the same room and at times 14 hours a day. There’s got to be real chemistry there. That’s one of the reasons this process took a little while. First and foremost, we were looking for the right people, the right fit, good people, and we feel we’ve found that with these three individuals.”
Lambert seems confident he’s found the coaching pieces to unlock a winning culture here in our Kraken team, so here’s hoping that chemistry and cohesiveness can work some magic to get this Seattle team skating strong and seeing the ice with fresh eyes this season. The franchise still has the resources at their disposal under general manager Jason Botterill to acquire some talent that can assist Lambert and this new staff going forward, but it seems likely that the Kraken will largely be returning the same group next season. Here’s to hoping that the experience and winning history of each of these new coaches will help Lambert’s group achieve playoff potential this year.
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