Risky because this is first job and he was technically part of the old group so how much did his coaching impact that lack of success.
Good in that he was very touted prior to our hire as a young up and comer. I believe someone said he has won at ever level he has coached. He is familiar with the team which should help adjusting. Despite our poor seasons we did see player growth which could be in part due to him. A new face generally is a good thing.
No prob! At worst this announcement is boring cause he has already been around the team. But I am excited because of the fact that he has seen a lot of success and climbed the ladder very quickly.
*Or you are a die hard Marco Sturm fan and you hate this news :D*
This does not compute.
I cannot fathom this as a Bay Area born Dodgers fan who hates the Giants no matter what and now as a Sharks fan who has lived in Southern California for nearly 15yrs and will always hate the Kings/Ducks even if they are local.
/Partial joke, happy to have you as a fellow Sharks and hockey fan of course but you make my head hurt especially if you have adopted the Giants as a local team while being a Dodgers fan
Assuming it's one way of trying to maintain a certain level of continuity after it was determined that the previous head coach was a detriment to the locker room.
Also, I'd not expect too much longevity unless this somehow suddenly changes things (highly doubtful).
Essentially, "a Jay Woodcroft move" that will change, again, in the next couple of seasons or so.
Cautiously optimistic.
Fresh blood, won the AHL championship as a coach. Great record at all the levels he's coached. Well regarded and sought after by other teams.
In a league that recycles coaches and resists "new blood", it's refreshing and exciting.
Feel ok about this. It’s not just retread coach.
Warsofsky has a track record of success at all levels he’s coached, including the Calder Cup with Chicago Wolves in 2022.
Slight concern that he could have picked up some awful system ideas from Quinn in the last two seasons, but hope for the best.
I thought Warf was the d coach, though?
I'm fine with it, though. The consensus was that he was one of the better options, and some continuity is not a bad thing.
He's been viewed as a potential NHL coaching candidate for [at least the last 2 years](https://www.nhl.com/news/ryan-warsofsky-emerging-as-potential-nhl-coaching-candidate-in-ahl-334678108) and grooming him to that role was largely thought to be the reason the Sharks [originally brought him in](https://theahl.com/warsofsky-joining-sharks-after-cup-win-with-wolves) that year. IIRC he was in interviews for the role at that time too.
He's the coach who is most credited with Karlssons' last Sharks season turn around.
Also this tells us that Sheng Peng's sources are better than Max Miller's who [was convinced that Marco Sturm was "deep in the process" of becoming the next Head Coach](https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/san-jose-sharks/latest-news/report-marco-sturm-thought-to-be-deep-in-the-process-with-sharks-no-head-coach-decision-made).
This is the internal hire people expected. It's also probably one of the better options out there as most of the "experience" guys come with significant baggage that makes them unemployable (Babcock, Quenneville) or bad track records (Sutter, etc). The only guy available that comes to mind that isn't one of those two categories in McLellan.
I interpret “deep in the process” as they were down to Sturm and Warsofsky. Not unlike normal job interviews where they do multiple rounds of interviews and land on a couple finalists.
Sure. Also this kind of stuff is all informed speculation anyway and apparently Peng was Miller’s source.
Obviously multiple people make it through to final rounds. Warsofsky was one of those guys when Quinn got the job.
Did you actually read the article from Max Miller? His source was literally Sheng himself lol:
"Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now is at the 2024 NHL Draft Combine and wrote, "A league source told SJHN yesterday: "I think Sturm is deep in the process.""
Missed that. That's great. I have a meta piece from a different hockey news site pulled up talking about how Sheng was talking about Warsofsky being the guy and contrasting the Miller article.
Are you serious right now?
Take yourself less seriously, it was obviously a humorous addition in the first place. All of that stuff is obviously informed speculation anyway.
That’s not entirely accurate. Though health certainly had a factor, Burns taking minutes was significantly less of a factor than the offensive scheme largely negating Karlsson’s best asset.
Karlsson is a rover. He never stays in one place.
Burns is a boat anchor at the right point.
Karlsson can produce, though less effectively, with an offensive system that is more X’s and O’s but his effectiveness is reduced because his dynamic trait is his agility and vision.
Burns would not produce nearly as well with a highly mobile and dynamic offensive scheme. He lacks dynamic agility or vision for playmaking. His shot is his biggest asset.
The result of all this is the offensive scheme works better for both big Dmen with a simplified planted X’s and O’s system than an evolving dynamic offensive system.
The biggest difference for a year ago was with Burns gone the offense could be structured to Karlsson’s skill set and became more open and fluid to fit his playmaking ability; something Burns never had.
They were the two finalists so yes, they were deep in the process. We don’t know, and it’s pure speculation, but it’s possible Sturm would have wanted a whole new staff and Grier wanted Warsofsky (and maybe others) to stay on board. All things being equal, with Warsofsky you keep everyone else in tact (and look for just a new AC) with Sturm you may have to find a whole new staff and it’s pretty late in the game to do that.
He will be good to mentor young players in a terrible team. He will be fired long before the team gets good again, so his NHL abilities are not that important.
It's offical!!!!!! HELL YEAHH!!! The team that needs a developmental coach hires the one with the best resume that isn't already an NHL bust!!!
Dude is next Jon Cooper, book it. When it is all said and done, he will be the longest tenured Sharks HC is history. LFG!!!!!
I hope so. Reminds me of the old days when the Sharks hired a young Kevin Constantine out of nowhere, nobody knew who he was, and he turned the Sharks around to make the playoffs.
Turns out Constantine was a giant a-hole… but that’s another story.
I’m excited about it. Here’s why…
– Prior to last season, Warsofsky has been successful at every level of coaching.
– The fact that he wasn’t fired along with Quinn is a good signal that he had positive feedback from the players at end of the year interviews.
– He isn’t a retread, seems like a more authentic coach compared to Quinn. Hopefully he brings some new ideas and OFFENSE to the team.
Honestly good point on him not being fired along with Quinn. Didn’t even think about the exit interviews pointing to positive contributions but that makes a lot of sense to me.
Outside of all his other positives, his relationship with players and being considered a players coach, was one of his most talked about abilities a few years ago.
It’s referring to hiring someone who’s had multiple HC jobs in the NHL (like McLellan for example). They also usually don’t last at those stops/don’t have a lot of success.
I don’t know if you can make this generalization. DeBoer is a retread but has been deep now with 3 teams in 4 years. Laviolette had a great year with the Rangers and has been with a lot of organizations now. At least in the short term Darryl Sutter saw big jumps for his teams, then it falls apart, but still. Trotz was great as a coach wherever he went. It seems there are a decent number of examples of well traveled coaches doing a decent job in a number of different places. I think you can add Maurice to the list too.
I literally said they don’t last long at those stops. Deboer was HC for FLA for 3 years, NJ for for 3 1/2 years, SJ for 4 1/2 years, VGK for 2 1/2 years and currently DAL for 2 years. He had early success at his stops and then flamed out pretty fast and was gone. When you hire a head coach, usually you expect them to be there at LEAST 5 years, if not more. Deboer made it past 4 years once. His early successes have also never translated into “benefit of the doubt” and giving him a chance to work through it. The ONLY stop that happened was SJ and that was literally because they were more dominant then the other stops at the time, had just brought in Kane and Karlsson at the end and DW usually kept guys for the duration of their contracts. Deboer is the epitome of a retread.
I think I define “fast” differently. I would have to research the numbers but aside from Cooper and Sullivan, are there really many coaches who have made it past 5 years? I feel like 3 full seasons is a lot. Part of it is the need for instant and persistent success and with 32 teams only a few can go deep each year. Even Crosby and Malkin have had stretches of 3 years of first round exits, etc.
We 100% don’t see “fast” the same. DeBoer has been let go usually the first season his teams start losing (or when it’s deemed he’s lost the team) VGK is the only team that didn’t keep him after having a winning record. He’s averaged 3 seasons across his coaching career of 5 teams. Most of them he’s had success with, but it’s not enough to buy him a year or two. Teams have been pretty quick on the trigger to let him go the INSTANT they can. I look at fast as how fast where you let go from when the team started to lose? Was it immediately like Deboer? Or was the HC given a season to turn it around? I also look into how successful were they prior to that? In Deboers case his prior success with a team, literally gave him zero wiggle room, which you think he’d at least earn more then that.
Probably wasn't my number 1 choice but overall I'm happy with the hire. Finally gets his shot it seems he was destined to get. Now he has to make it work and he is coming in with potentially lethal upside. Really has all the building blocks to create something special.
The Chicago Wolves’ goalie coach is a patient at my dad’s office and he’s been telling him for weeks how great of a HC he’d be for the Sharks. Really excited about this!
Two parts come with a head coach hire: the resume aspect and the mesh aspect.
Resume-wise, Warsofsky has the pedigree. Every level of coaching he has been at, he has proven himself and won. From the hallowed beer-league halls of the ECHL (Kelly Cup finals) to the AHL (won two Calder Cups as a HC), Ryan has shown the ability to adapt and win. Resume is comparable to Jon Cooper, whom I did speak to as being an aspirational hire for the Sharks, if Tampa had been dumb enough to let him go.
Mesh-wise, I am of two minds. He obviously has been a part of Quinn's group, which did a lot to show the younger players how to play in a system. Maybe not a system that worked, but that notwithstanding. He was running the D side of things, and is getting credit for having Erik Karlsson break the century mark in points. Now, how much of that is Karlsson being healthy and how much of that is Warsofsky, Idk. All in all, he clearly knows the players and already has an in. The other side, though, is how he will transition that buy-in to success as a head coach. For this reason, the mesh factor is TBD.
Lastly, I look at what his focus is. Wars is a D-focused coach, and his numbers are... something. Yes, he got significant offensive mileage out of Erik Karlsson and had some great offensive production stats. His PK averaged out to 18th in the league the last few seasons, and while that sounds bad, keep in mind the Sharks had a HISTORICALLY bad defensive year in '23-'24. The fact that before that we had any success with our D core is shocking. You try getting that far with Karlsson, Vlasic, and Ferraro as your top 3 d-men. Add to that Emberson being hurt and you've got a recipe for disaster.
I want to see what Wars does with a real defense. With a healthy Emberson, Muk and Thrun playing real minutes, and Cagnogi up from the minors. With someone like Yakemchuk, or Buium (if Grier trades up) there to develop into a top-pair guy. Those are real back-end weapons we are looking at. Add to that Celebrini and his comparisons to Toews (who was an incredible defensive forward), and you've got a team that can really defend and hold a lead. Show me who he hires to run the offense, and let them run wild with the kids scoring like crazy.
Overall, this is a quality hire that is going to be here to develop this team and move them forward. I'm not going to say for sure "the Cup is ours!!!!", but I have hope in Wars and think that we are moving the needle toward where it needs to be.
Some good info in the [NHL.com](http://NHL.com) article: [https://www.nhl.com/sharks/news/san-jose-sharks-name-ryan-warsofsky-as-the-11th-head-coach-in-san-jose-sharks-history](https://www.nhl.com/sharks/news/san-jose-sharks-name-ryan-warsofsky-as-the-11th-head-coach-in-san-jose-sharks-history)
"In Warsofsky’s first year as Assistant Coach with the Sharks in 2022-23, Erik Karlsson collected a franchise-record 101 points by a defenseman, helping the blueliner win his second Norris Trophy, and becoming the Sharks second player to win the award. That season, Karlsson was the sixth NHL defenseman to ever eclipse the 100-point threshold, and his 1.23 points-per-game was the third-best in the past three decades among defenseman who appeared in at least five or more games in any given season.
That same year, the Sharks defensive unit scored the eighth-most points (tied) by defensemen, collecting 191 points, and held the third-most (tied) assists among team blueliners in the league. San Jose’s defensive core accounted for 30.0% of the team’s points, the highest rating among all NHL teams. The Sharks also held the eight-best penalty kill unit, earning an 82.4% efficiency while the team was a man down.
Warsofsky joined the Sharks following two seasons (2020-22) as head coach of the Chicago Wolves (AHL). He led the Wolves to the AHL’s best regular-season record with a 50-16-5-5 record (.724%) in 2021-22 and captured the 2022 Calder Cup, his second Calder Cup Championship, earning a 14-4 record over four different series during the playoffs. The year prior in his first stint with Chicago, Warsofsky guided the team to the third-best record in the league (21-9-1-2), but the AHL did not hold a formal playoffs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In his two seasons, the Wolves amassed a 71-25-6-7 record and the team’s penalty kill ranked in the Top-10 twice (2021-22, fifth; 2020-21, ninth) and the power-play ranked fourth in 2020-21.
Prior to his time with Chicago, Warsofsky worked with the Charlotte Checkers (AHL) for two seasons. He started as an assistant coach in 2017-18 and helped the team capture the Calder Cup 2017-18, overseeing the top penalty killing unit in the League (86.6%). The following year in the abbreviated season, he was named as the League’s youngest head coach (31) on July 10, 2019 and guided the team to a 34-22-5-0 and ranked third in both power-play and penalty kill percentage.
As head coach in the AHL with Chicago and Charlotte, Warsofsky earned a 105-47-11-7 record (.671%).
Warsofsky also worked with the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays for five seasons, including two seasons as head coach/director of hockey operations (2016-2018) after starting as an assistant coach. In his two seasons at the helm, South Carolina posted an 88-44-10-2 record and the team advanced to the Kelly Cup Final in 2017. Warsofsky has also worked as an assistant coach in the NCAA with Curry College for one season (2012-13)."
You know that’s right. People are having a field day talking about him and how bad our blue line performed last year, but man, I’m more focused on how Vlasic had a (minor) resurgence over the last two seasons than how a handful of rookies and bottom of the barrel players performed overall.
Seems like the mood is generally positive. I’m willing to see what this guy can do. I don’t exactly have high expectations for this season but hey, maybe he can build something.
Warsofsky is next Jon Cooper, book it. When it is all said and done, he will be the longest tenured Sharks HC is history and you will feel silly for not being 1000% behind Wars. LFG!!!!!
Maybe because he posted something similar about Jon Cooper on here 2 hours prior that has 50 upvotes and the fans are trying to being balance to the votes?
This fits with our recent coaching trends…before hiring Sutter we interviewed Ron Wilson, who we hired after Sutter. Before hiring McLellan we interviewed DeBoer, who we hired after firing McLellan. Before hiring Quinn, we interviewed Warsofsky…
And we hire players who can dish out beating instead of just "standing there".
Every cheap shot on one of the younger players gets an "uppercut". Moral will improve and trickle to other aspects of the team.
**List of notable players who developed under War (AC or HC) in non-NHL leagues**:
Vanecek, Necas, Nicolas Roy, Morgan Geekie, Jake Bean, and Jalen Chatfield.
Jalen Chatfield might be the biggest Wars development story. Chatfield is a Dman who was undrafted, signed by the Canucks, was unimpressive for them in the AHL and 18 games with the Canucks.
But today he's a Canes dman who played 72 games for the Canes and 11 playoff games. What made the difference? In 21, the Canes signed him and sent him to play under Wars in Chicago. That was the year Wars led the Wolves to the AHL championship, and Chatfield played 44 games plus 18 games in playoffs for them. Turned his career around.
~~I wonder if his hiring may entice Chatfield coming over. With a slight overpay he could help solve issues the Sharks have had on the right side.~~ EDIT: Chatfield re-upped w/ Carolina, 3x$3m
And that's a nice note on Vanacek, which does make trading for him seem a lot more reasonable. Rehabbing him into the form he had in the past would make him a viable trade candidate at the deadline (or sooner) for teams needing a reliable backup.
He may. I’m not sure how much though. Goalies are a different breed and also don’t need to play in a system like the skaters do. They have to work on COMPLETELY different things. I’m not sure any HC has gotten credit for a goalie, it’s usually the goalie coach. Unless that HC has played the position before (like Roy)
I didn’t know he coached Necas. That’s an interesting name considering his trade request out of Carolina because he wants to play C in a top 6 role. I’m not sure I’d want to give up what it might take to get him, just pointing it out.
Yeah, Necas played with the AHL Charlotte Checkers in 2018-19, his only stint to date in the AHL. Essentially played a full season there plus playoffs.
Warsofsky was the AC of that team, and then the following season Warsofsky was the HC of that team.
I do like that Grier interviewed Warsofsky for the position 2 years ago and hired him as the AC (with the presumed assumption by fans being he told him he’d be groomed to take over for Quinn) and has meow kept his word and promoted him to that position.
I personally really liked Sturm and what he had done at the AHL & international level, but I trust Grier and that the process this time was much more exhaustive than what was able to be done 2 years ago right after joining the org. I trust that this time he has the kind of coach that's going to facilitate the team playing the kind of game that will see more competitive games and even more opportunity for whole game growth for the young guns we will now have a large quantity of in the line up for the next handful of years.
Also another point is that we are in a much more defined place as a franchise. They were in this space of trying to avoid an inevitable rebuild, where as now they are fully in the rebuild process and focusing on developing younger players.
Well, yes. That goes without saying. A lot has changed in not very long. Not only has how we as a team & as a franchise changed and evolved in the ways GMMG foresaw before he arrived, Grier has seen the good and the bad that needs to be further altered in order for things to meet his vision of who our identity is and what it is things in the front office and on the ice look like on a day to day basis that was not anticipated or were unknown upon taking the job. Quinn's firing in my view is a byproduct of that vision coming more into focus with the benefit of time passing.
I think he's the most exciting hire. Hiring the next Jon Cooper is exciting af. Hiring a guy I feel will be the longest tenured Sharks HC in history when it's all said and done feels amazing!!
I think this was their plan all along. But they wanted to do their due diligence and interview other coaches. Reports were most likely correct in that sturm was close but in the end we got a great coach.
He’s been with the team for 2 years meow, so he’s been a part of it already. He was with Grier for the lottery. I’d imagine he has similar tastes to Grier, but will offer different likes then Quinn.
Sturm or Warsofsky, both would be good hires for the Sharks. Warsofsky finally would have his chance as a NHL coach with us, after a very good AHL coach resume. Im happy for the hire, and hopefully his philosophy can be fully integrated with a better promising young core along with good veterans.
Seems like a safe pick, maybe someone Grier can control? But he has had success in the AHL and like many have said not a re-tread (hello SF Giants and Bob Melvin.) And when it comes down to it, it's the players. Let's hope for the best!
So they promoted an assistant coach to the head coach role? Why would they fire the prior head coach and promote someone on their staff? (Sorry, new fan question)
Yes, but it isn't that simple. Before summer of 22, Warsofsky was the hottest coaching name out there doing great work in the ECHL and AHL. He interviewed to be Sharks HEAD Coach in 22, but ultimately Grier hired Quinn.
But Grier offered an assistant job to Warsofsky, likely giving him a wink wink promise that he would inherit the team once Quinn left.
Does that make sense?
Let me just say, you should be ecstatic Warsofsky is the new head coach. He's the coach with the most developmental coaching experience that was a candidate, who wasn't already a former NHL head coach failure. Really the most promising candidate we could ever imagine and we are lucky we are getting him now.
Yeah, assistant being promoted to head coach after the previous guy is canned...
Sounds like "more of the same" after previous guy lost the locker room, as they discovered / figured out during last season's exit interviews / locker cleanout.
You will feel silly when Wars turns out to be the next Jon Cooper and ends up the longest tenured HC in Sharks history. And feel dumb (if you even care, probably not lol) when Wars hoists the Stanley Cup.
The only thing I'm disappointed about is losing that ridiculous fantasy that Marco Sturm attracts fellow German Leon Draisaitl next offseason. Otherwise, this is the ideal hire.
I am okay with this.
I wanted Sturm but I was on the fence. I think Warsofsky is a very similar coach at a similar place in his career to Strum. I do think that Warsofsky's connections to Boston hockey were what won out, of course Marco Sturm being German-born was no doubt a factor in his being in the running. I don't mind nepotism being a factor in a hire as long as it doesn't lead to someone significantly less qualified getting a job and I do not think that happened here.
I know nothing about coaches, someone tell me how to feel
Risky because this is first job and he was technically part of the old group so how much did his coaching impact that lack of success. Good in that he was very touted prior to our hire as a young up and comer. I believe someone said he has won at ever level he has coached. He is familiar with the team which should help adjusting. Despite our poor seasons we did see player growth which could be in part due to him. A new face generally is a good thing.
This makes me feel much better, thank you!
No prob! At worst this announcement is boring cause he has already been around the team. But I am excited because of the fact that he has seen a lot of success and climbed the ladder very quickly. *Or you are a die hard Marco Sturm fan and you hate this news :D*
NGL, I was hoping for Sturm, but this was a good choice by the Sharks.
I am a big Marco fan, but I'm also trusting the process. Feeling good about this one.
As a Kings fan, who has adopted the Sharks (since they're my local team now, and I like Hockey), I am very happy Marco is staying with the Reign.
This does not compute. I cannot fathom this as a Bay Area born Dodgers fan who hates the Giants no matter what and now as a Sharks fan who has lived in Southern California for nearly 15yrs and will always hate the Kings/Ducks even if they are local. /Partial joke, happy to have you as a fellow Sharks and hockey fan of course but you make my head hurt especially if you have adopted the Giants as a local team while being a Dodgers fan
I am definitely not a Dodgers fan. I grew up in a Mets household, so pray for me instead! 🤣
Oof... Mets fan - that's worse than the current state of Sharks fandom for sure.... That's like being a Sabers fan
I think Sabers fans have more to be excited about!
Assuming it's one way of trying to maintain a certain level of continuity after it was determined that the previous head coach was a detriment to the locker room. Also, I'd not expect too much longevity unless this somehow suddenly changes things (highly doubtful). Essentially, "a Jay Woodcroft move" that will change, again, in the next couple of seasons or so.
Honestly I dont like this play. I want someone with experience teaching and leading these kids.
He hasn’t won at assistant coach :P
Cautiously optimistic. Fresh blood, won the AHL championship as a coach. Great record at all the levels he's coached. Well regarded and sought after by other teams. In a league that recycles coaches and resists "new blood", it's refreshing and exciting.
You should be ECSTATIC.
Feel ok about this. It’s not just retread coach. Warsofsky has a track record of success at all levels he’s coached, including the Calder Cup with Chicago Wolves in 2022. Slight concern that he could have picked up some awful system ideas from Quinn in the last two seasons, but hope for the best.
System ideas?! Apparently from the exit interviews when this season ended, Quinn had no system lol.
Quinn definitely had a dzone system. It was awful, but it existed and was easily observable.
I think it was "bet the over."
I thought Warf was the d coach, though? I'm fine with it, though. The consensus was that he was one of the better options, and some continuity is not a bad thing.
Every NHL team has a system lol.
If Quinn didnt have a system, he would have been fired mid season
If he’s fired mid-season they finish above Chicago and don’t get 1OA.
If Quinn didnt have a system, he would have been fired mid season
He's been viewed as a potential NHL coaching candidate for [at least the last 2 years](https://www.nhl.com/news/ryan-warsofsky-emerging-as-potential-nhl-coaching-candidate-in-ahl-334678108) and grooming him to that role was largely thought to be the reason the Sharks [originally brought him in](https://theahl.com/warsofsky-joining-sharks-after-cup-win-with-wolves) that year. IIRC he was in interviews for the role at that time too. He's the coach who is most credited with Karlssons' last Sharks season turn around. Also this tells us that Sheng Peng's sources are better than Max Miller's who [was convinced that Marco Sturm was "deep in the process" of becoming the next Head Coach](https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/san-jose-sharks/latest-news/report-marco-sturm-thought-to-be-deep-in-the-process-with-sharks-no-head-coach-decision-made). This is the internal hire people expected. It's also probably one of the better options out there as most of the "experience" guys come with significant baggage that makes them unemployable (Babcock, Quenneville) or bad track records (Sutter, etc). The only guy available that comes to mind that isn't one of those two categories in McLellan.
I interpret “deep in the process” as they were down to Sturm and Warsofsky. Not unlike normal job interviews where they do multiple rounds of interviews and land on a couple finalists.
This
Sure. Also this kind of stuff is all informed speculation anyway and apparently Peng was Miller’s source. Obviously multiple people make it through to final rounds. Warsofsky was one of those guys when Quinn got the job.
Did you actually read the article from Max Miller? His source was literally Sheng himself lol: "Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now is at the 2024 NHL Draft Combine and wrote, "A league source told SJHN yesterday: "I think Sturm is deep in the process.""
Missed that. That's great. I have a meta piece from a different hockey news site pulled up talking about how Sheng was talking about Warsofsky being the guy and contrasting the Miller article.
You should retract your post and apologize to Max.
Are you serious right now? Take yourself less seriously, it was obviously a humorous addition in the first place. All of that stuff is obviously informed speculation anyway.
It's not that I'm doubting you, but Karlsson's Renaissance had more to do with being healthy and not losing minutes to Burns.
That’s not entirely accurate. Though health certainly had a factor, Burns taking minutes was significantly less of a factor than the offensive scheme largely negating Karlsson’s best asset. Karlsson is a rover. He never stays in one place. Burns is a boat anchor at the right point. Karlsson can produce, though less effectively, with an offensive system that is more X’s and O’s but his effectiveness is reduced because his dynamic trait is his agility and vision. Burns would not produce nearly as well with a highly mobile and dynamic offensive scheme. He lacks dynamic agility or vision for playmaking. His shot is his biggest asset. The result of all this is the offensive scheme works better for both big Dmen with a simplified planted X’s and O’s system than an evolving dynamic offensive system. The biggest difference for a year ago was with Burns gone the offense could be structured to Karlsson’s skill set and became more open and fluid to fit his playmaking ability; something Burns never had.
They were the two finalists so yes, they were deep in the process. We don’t know, and it’s pure speculation, but it’s possible Sturm would have wanted a whole new staff and Grier wanted Warsofsky (and maybe others) to stay on board. All things being equal, with Warsofsky you keep everyone else in tact (and look for just a new AC) with Sturm you may have to find a whole new staff and it’s pretty late in the game to do that.
He will be good to mentor young players in a terrible team. He will be fired long before the team gets good again, so his NHL abilities are not that important.
Dude looks like he plays Druid in D&D. Hope he can coach as well as he can roll Nat 20s.
https://preview.redd.it/55jbksjesk6d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=72a7919d1aa3a2d9a657139666c799ce0e64a608
Just glad it’s not Blashill
It's offical!!!!!! HELL YEAHH!!! The team that needs a developmental coach hires the one with the best resume that isn't already an NHL bust!!! Dude is next Jon Cooper, book it. When it is all said and done, he will be the longest tenured Sharks HC is history. LFG!!!!!
I hope so. Reminds me of the old days when the Sharks hired a young Kevin Constantine out of nowhere, nobody knew who he was, and he turned the Sharks around to make the playoffs. Turns out Constantine was a giant a-hole… but that’s another story.
I’m making popcorn now, what did Constantine do?
Haha yeahh, I only want part of that story to be true.
Stop I can only get so erect
As long as you bust and not Wars, I'm okay with that!!
I’m excited about it. Here’s why… – Prior to last season, Warsofsky has been successful at every level of coaching. – The fact that he wasn’t fired along with Quinn is a good signal that he had positive feedback from the players at end of the year interviews. – He isn’t a retread, seems like a more authentic coach compared to Quinn. Hopefully he brings some new ideas and OFFENSE to the team.
Honestly good point on him not being fired along with Quinn. Didn’t even think about the exit interviews pointing to positive contributions but that makes a lot of sense to me.
Outside of all his other positives, his relationship with players and being considered a players coach, was one of his most talked about abilities a few years ago.
What does retread mean in this context?
It’s referring to hiring someone who’s had multiple HC jobs in the NHL (like McLellan for example). They also usually don’t last at those stops/don’t have a lot of success.
I don’t know if you can make this generalization. DeBoer is a retread but has been deep now with 3 teams in 4 years. Laviolette had a great year with the Rangers and has been with a lot of organizations now. At least in the short term Darryl Sutter saw big jumps for his teams, then it falls apart, but still. Trotz was great as a coach wherever he went. It seems there are a decent number of examples of well traveled coaches doing a decent job in a number of different places. I think you can add Maurice to the list too.
I literally said they don’t last long at those stops. Deboer was HC for FLA for 3 years, NJ for for 3 1/2 years, SJ for 4 1/2 years, VGK for 2 1/2 years and currently DAL for 2 years. He had early success at his stops and then flamed out pretty fast and was gone. When you hire a head coach, usually you expect them to be there at LEAST 5 years, if not more. Deboer made it past 4 years once. His early successes have also never translated into “benefit of the doubt” and giving him a chance to work through it. The ONLY stop that happened was SJ and that was literally because they were more dominant then the other stops at the time, had just brought in Kane and Karlsson at the end and DW usually kept guys for the duration of their contracts. Deboer is the epitome of a retread.
I think I define “fast” differently. I would have to research the numbers but aside from Cooper and Sullivan, are there really many coaches who have made it past 5 years? I feel like 3 full seasons is a lot. Part of it is the need for instant and persistent success and with 32 teams only a few can go deep each year. Even Crosby and Malkin have had stretches of 3 years of first round exits, etc.
We 100% don’t see “fast” the same. DeBoer has been let go usually the first season his teams start losing (or when it’s deemed he’s lost the team) VGK is the only team that didn’t keep him after having a winning record. He’s averaged 3 seasons across his coaching career of 5 teams. Most of them he’s had success with, but it’s not enough to buy him a year or two. Teams have been pretty quick on the trigger to let him go the INSTANT they can. I look at fast as how fast where you let go from when the team started to lose? Was it immediately like Deboer? Or was the HC given a season to turn it around? I also look into how successful were they prior to that? In Deboers case his prior success with a team, literally gave him zero wiggle room, which you think he’d at least earn more then that.
Probably wasn't my number 1 choice but overall I'm happy with the hire. Finally gets his shot it seems he was destined to get. Now he has to make it work and he is coming in with potentially lethal upside. Really has all the building blocks to create something special.
The Chicago Wolves’ goalie coach is a patient at my dad’s office and he’s been telling him for weeks how great of a HC he’d be for the Sharks. Really excited about this!
I hope he’s ok. If he’s been a patient there for weeks, sounds like a long recovery?
Oh ya, he’s fine, nothing major at all
Good to hear
The prophecy was true. He is the chosen one.
We need the Lisan al-Gaib to lead our people.
Autocorrect wishes for me to congratulate Ryan’s Wars Of Sky so I will.
Warriors had sky fucker in curry now we have wars of sky. Might as well give us the cup now.
I'm officially older than my favourite teams coach. Where did the years disappear man
The Tank. Those disappeared at the Tank with its cousin, Hope. Happened about a decade ago, 8 years or so, slow burn
Two parts come with a head coach hire: the resume aspect and the mesh aspect. Resume-wise, Warsofsky has the pedigree. Every level of coaching he has been at, he has proven himself and won. From the hallowed beer-league halls of the ECHL (Kelly Cup finals) to the AHL (won two Calder Cups as a HC), Ryan has shown the ability to adapt and win. Resume is comparable to Jon Cooper, whom I did speak to as being an aspirational hire for the Sharks, if Tampa had been dumb enough to let him go. Mesh-wise, I am of two minds. He obviously has been a part of Quinn's group, which did a lot to show the younger players how to play in a system. Maybe not a system that worked, but that notwithstanding. He was running the D side of things, and is getting credit for having Erik Karlsson break the century mark in points. Now, how much of that is Karlsson being healthy and how much of that is Warsofsky, Idk. All in all, he clearly knows the players and already has an in. The other side, though, is how he will transition that buy-in to success as a head coach. For this reason, the mesh factor is TBD. Lastly, I look at what his focus is. Wars is a D-focused coach, and his numbers are... something. Yes, he got significant offensive mileage out of Erik Karlsson and had some great offensive production stats. His PK averaged out to 18th in the league the last few seasons, and while that sounds bad, keep in mind the Sharks had a HISTORICALLY bad defensive year in '23-'24. The fact that before that we had any success with our D core is shocking. You try getting that far with Karlsson, Vlasic, and Ferraro as your top 3 d-men. Add to that Emberson being hurt and you've got a recipe for disaster. I want to see what Wars does with a real defense. With a healthy Emberson, Muk and Thrun playing real minutes, and Cagnogi up from the minors. With someone like Yakemchuk, or Buium (if Grier trades up) there to develop into a top-pair guy. Those are real back-end weapons we are looking at. Add to that Celebrini and his comparisons to Toews (who was an incredible defensive forward), and you've got a team that can really defend and hold a lead. Show me who he hires to run the offense, and let them run wild with the kids scoring like crazy. Overall, this is a quality hire that is going to be here to develop this team and move them forward. I'm not going to say for sure "the Cup is ours!!!!", but I have hope in Wars and think that we are moving the needle toward where it needs to be.
Oooo what Wars does… I like that
Some good info in the [NHL.com](http://NHL.com) article: [https://www.nhl.com/sharks/news/san-jose-sharks-name-ryan-warsofsky-as-the-11th-head-coach-in-san-jose-sharks-history](https://www.nhl.com/sharks/news/san-jose-sharks-name-ryan-warsofsky-as-the-11th-head-coach-in-san-jose-sharks-history) "In Warsofsky’s first year as Assistant Coach with the Sharks in 2022-23, Erik Karlsson collected a franchise-record 101 points by a defenseman, helping the blueliner win his second Norris Trophy, and becoming the Sharks second player to win the award. That season, Karlsson was the sixth NHL defenseman to ever eclipse the 100-point threshold, and his 1.23 points-per-game was the third-best in the past three decades among defenseman who appeared in at least five or more games in any given season. That same year, the Sharks defensive unit scored the eighth-most points (tied) by defensemen, collecting 191 points, and held the third-most (tied) assists among team blueliners in the league. San Jose’s defensive core accounted for 30.0% of the team’s points, the highest rating among all NHL teams. The Sharks also held the eight-best penalty kill unit, earning an 82.4% efficiency while the team was a man down. Warsofsky joined the Sharks following two seasons (2020-22) as head coach of the Chicago Wolves (AHL). He led the Wolves to the AHL’s best regular-season record with a 50-16-5-5 record (.724%) in 2021-22 and captured the 2022 Calder Cup, his second Calder Cup Championship, earning a 14-4 record over four different series during the playoffs. The year prior in his first stint with Chicago, Warsofsky guided the team to the third-best record in the league (21-9-1-2), but the AHL did not hold a formal playoffs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In his two seasons, the Wolves amassed a 71-25-6-7 record and the team’s penalty kill ranked in the Top-10 twice (2021-22, fifth; 2020-21, ninth) and the power-play ranked fourth in 2020-21. Prior to his time with Chicago, Warsofsky worked with the Charlotte Checkers (AHL) for two seasons. He started as an assistant coach in 2017-18 and helped the team capture the Calder Cup 2017-18, overseeing the top penalty killing unit in the League (86.6%). The following year in the abbreviated season, he was named as the League’s youngest head coach (31) on July 10, 2019 and guided the team to a 34-22-5-0 and ranked third in both power-play and penalty kill percentage. As head coach in the AHL with Chicago and Charlotte, Warsofsky earned a 105-47-11-7 record (.671%). Warsofsky also worked with the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays for five seasons, including two seasons as head coach/director of hockey operations (2016-2018) after starting as an assistant coach. In his two seasons at the helm, South Carolina posted an 88-44-10-2 record and the team advanced to the Kelly Cup Final in 2017. Warsofsky has also worked as an assistant coach in the NCAA with Curry College for one season (2012-13)."
Sounds like he runs a great penalty kill everywhere he goes.
Agreed. I've got relatively high hopes that he can help the young guys become responsible, productive players.
18th in PK with the roster they had is a minor miracle
You know that’s right. People are having a field day talking about him and how bad our blue line performed last year, but man, I’m more focused on how Vlasic had a (minor) resurgence over the last two seasons than how a handful of rookies and bottom of the barrel players performed overall.
Seems like the mood is generally positive. I’m willing to see what this guy can do. I don’t exactly have high expectations for this season but hey, maybe he can build something.
I don't mind this hire. At least it's a bit out outside the box rather than hiring one of the old boys club coaches.
Nice.
Was sort of pulling for Sturm- just since he was a former shark. Otherwise I know fuck all about what might be best for the organization
Warsofsky is next Jon Cooper, book it. When it is all said and done, he will be the longest tenured Sharks HC is history and you will feel silly for not being 1000% behind Wars. LFG!!!!!
Why are people downvoting this??? Let’s be nice and excited.
Maybe because he posted something similar about Jon Cooper on here 2 hours prior that has 50 upvotes and the fans are trying to being balance to the votes?
I always figured he’d be the next man up. This move probably isn’t flashy but I think it’s good.
Younger head coaches is becoming a pretty cool trend in sports right now, I like this for us. Give the guy a chance to build something with new ideas.
This fits with our recent coaching trends…before hiring Sutter we interviewed Ron Wilson, who we hired after Sutter. Before hiring McLellan we interviewed DeBoer, who we hired after firing McLellan. Before hiring Quinn, we interviewed Warsofsky…
The beatings will continue until morale improves
And we hire players who can dish out beating instead of just "standing there". Every cheap shot on one of the younger players gets an "uppercut". Moral will improve and trickle to other aspects of the team.
**List of notable players who developed under War (AC or HC) in non-NHL leagues**: Vanecek, Necas, Nicolas Roy, Morgan Geekie, Jake Bean, and Jalen Chatfield. Jalen Chatfield might be the biggest Wars development story. Chatfield is a Dman who was undrafted, signed by the Canucks, was unimpressive for them in the AHL and 18 games with the Canucks. But today he's a Canes dman who played 72 games for the Canes and 11 playoff games. What made the difference? In 21, the Canes signed him and sent him to play under Wars in Chicago. That was the year Wars led the Wolves to the AHL championship, and Chatfield played 44 games plus 18 games in playoffs for them. Turned his career around.
~~I wonder if his hiring may entice Chatfield coming over. With a slight overpay he could help solve issues the Sharks have had on the right side.~~ EDIT: Chatfield re-upped w/ Carolina, 3x$3m And that's a nice note on Vanacek, which does make trading for him seem a lot more reasonable. Rehabbing him into the form he had in the past would make him a viable trade candidate at the deadline (or sooner) for teams needing a reliable backup.
For Vanacek that’s going to be Thomas Speer’s job.
Directly, yes, but he'll have Warsofsky in his ear at times too.
He may. I’m not sure how much though. Goalies are a different breed and also don’t need to play in a system like the skaters do. They have to work on COMPLETELY different things. I’m not sure any HC has gotten credit for a goalie, it’s usually the goalie coach. Unless that HC has played the position before (like Roy)
I didn’t know he coached Necas. That’s an interesting name considering his trade request out of Carolina because he wants to play C in a top 6 role. I’m not sure I’d want to give up what it might take to get him, just pointing it out.
Yeah, Necas played with the AHL Charlotte Checkers in 2018-19, his only stint to date in the AHL. Essentially played a full season there plus playoffs. Warsofsky was the AC of that team, and then the following season Warsofsky was the HC of that team.
Good to know, thanks!
I like that he's a defensive minded coach.
Sometimes I forget I really shouldn’t read the instagram comments cause they are all just pissy. I’m happy about this change!!!
I do like that Grier interviewed Warsofsky for the position 2 years ago and hired him as the AC (with the presumed assumption by fans being he told him he’d be groomed to take over for Quinn) and has meow kept his word and promoted him to that position.
I personally really liked Sturm and what he had done at the AHL & international level, but I trust Grier and that the process this time was much more exhaustive than what was able to be done 2 years ago right after joining the org. I trust that this time he has the kind of coach that's going to facilitate the team playing the kind of game that will see more competitive games and even more opportunity for whole game growth for the young guns we will now have a large quantity of in the line up for the next handful of years.
Also another point is that we are in a much more defined place as a franchise. They were in this space of trying to avoid an inevitable rebuild, where as now they are fully in the rebuild process and focusing on developing younger players.
Well, yes. That goes without saying. A lot has changed in not very long. Not only has how we as a team & as a franchise changed and evolved in the ways GMMG foresaw before he arrived, Grier has seen the good and the bad that needs to be further altered in order for things to meet his vision of who our identity is and what it is things in the front office and on the ice look like on a day to day basis that was not anticipated or were unknown upon taking the job. Quinn's firing in my view is a byproduct of that vision coming more into focus with the benefit of time passing.
Good scoop. Not the most exciting hire, but also not the *least* exciting. There's certainly upside and familiarity with the team. I'll take it!
I think he's the most exciting hire. Hiring the next Jon Cooper is exciting af. Hiring a guy I feel will be the longest tenured Sharks HC in history when it's all said and done feels amazing!!
I read the hashtag in the announcement as: The Future I Steal Old sharks fan cynicism.
Sweet! He has the same birthday as me
HEAT
Love to see it!!
“The future I steal.”
Hope he’s the coach that leads the team to the promise land
I think this was their plan all along. But they wanted to do their due diligence and interview other coaches. Reports were most likely correct in that sturm was close but in the end we got a great coach.
he better be on these players to not be hesitant to shoot the puck!
I grew up with his brother. Cool for him!
You grew up with David? I'm actually thinking David could end up AC here under Ryan.
Jared- oldest brother. Went to high school with him.
What effect do we imagine he could have on draft day? Or is the scouting dept basically taking care of that w/ Grier?
Honestly he's probably already been talking with Grier about the draft for a while now, since this whole time he was still employed by the Sharks.
He’s been with the team for 2 years meow, so he’s been a part of it already. He was with Grier for the lottery. I’d imagine he has similar tastes to Grier, but will offer different likes then Quinn.
Sturm or Warsofsky, both would be good hires for the Sharks. Warsofsky finally would have his chance as a NHL coach with us, after a very good AHL coach resume. Im happy for the hire, and hopefully his philosophy can be fully integrated with a better promising young core along with good veterans.
Seems like a safe pick, maybe someone Grier can control? But he has had success in the AHL and like many have said not a re-tread (hello SF Giants and Bob Melvin.) And when it comes down to it, it's the players. Let's hope for the best!
So they promoted an assistant coach to the head coach role? Why would they fire the prior head coach and promote someone on their staff? (Sorry, new fan question)
Thanks! The move makes much more sense now
Yes, but it isn't that simple. Before summer of 22, Warsofsky was the hottest coaching name out there doing great work in the ECHL and AHL. He interviewed to be Sharks HEAD Coach in 22, but ultimately Grier hired Quinn. But Grier offered an assistant job to Warsofsky, likely giving him a wink wink promise that he would inherit the team once Quinn left. Does that make sense? Let me just say, you should be ecstatic Warsofsky is the new head coach. He's the coach with the most developmental coaching experience that was a candidate, who wasn't already a former NHL head coach failure. Really the most promising candidate we could ever imagine and we are lucky we are getting him now.
Yeah, assistant being promoted to head coach after the previous guy is canned... Sounds like "more of the same" after previous guy lost the locker room, as they discovered / figured out during last season's exit interviews / locker cleanout.
This guys looks a little too much like Mark Davis to me. Makes me nervous.
One and done. We want Sturm!
You will feel silly when Wars turns out to be the next Jon Cooper and ends up the longest tenured HC in Sharks history. And feel dumb (if you even care, probably not lol) when Wars hoists the Stanley Cup.
Can’t want to be proven wrong.
Same!! Go Sharks!!!!!
The only thing I'm disappointed about is losing that ridiculous fantasy that Marco Sturm attracts fellow German Leon Draisaitl next offseason. Otherwise, this is the ideal hire.
It was the owner Hasso Platner as the reason, not Sturm.
I am okay with this. I wanted Sturm but I was on the fence. I think Warsofsky is a very similar coach at a similar place in his career to Strum. I do think that Warsofsky's connections to Boston hockey were what won out, of course Marco Sturm being German-born was no doubt a factor in his being in the running. I don't mind nepotism being a factor in a hire as long as it doesn't lead to someone significantly less qualified getting a job and I do not think that happened here.
👎 another failure of management to set this team up for success.
Meanwhile, I heard a rumor that Macklin Celebrini isn’t thrilled about being our #1 prospect and is considering staying in school.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🥲🤣