SOURCES: Warsofsky ‘Front Runner’ for Sharks’ Head Coach?

Are the San Jose Sharks zeroing in on their next head coach?

Three league sources told San Jose Hockey Now that Ryan Warsofsky is still on top of the list, with one source characterizing Warsofsky as the “front runner”.

Another source told SJHN that it could be down to Warsofsky or Marco Sturm.

Jeff Blashill, Jeff Halpern, and Jeremy Colliton are the other reported candidates so far.

If it’s Warsofsky, it would be full circle for the San Jose Sharks assistant coach, who interviewed for the top job in the summer of 2022 before GM Mike Grier tapped David Quinn. Under Quinn, the 36-year-old ran the Sharks’ defense and penalty kill with varying success.

In 2022-23, Warsofsky helped Erik Karlsson find his Norris Trophy form, to the tune of 101 points, the most for a defenseman since Brian Leetch’s 102 in 1991-92. The last time that Karlsson was a Norris finalist was 2016-17 with the Ottawa Senators.

San Jose’s PK also finished eighth in the NHL.

This past season, and granted, Warsofsky was working with a lot less, but the San Jose Sharks’ defense was a big part of the team’s -150 Goal Differential, worst of the cap era. The penalty kill, 28th in the league, also sputtered.

All that withstanding, Warsofsky was regarded as one of the brightest head coaching prospects around two years ago, after leading the Chicago Wolves to the 2022 Calder Cup. He also found success in the ECHL, taking the South Carolina Stingrays to the 2017 Kelly Cup Final.

If the San Jose Sharks hire Warsofsky as their next head coach, it would continue his pattern of a short apprenticeship in a new league before ascending to the top spot.

From 2013 to 2016, Warsofsky served as a Stingrays assistant coach, before becoming head coach from 2016 to 2018. In 2018-19, Warsofsky was a Charlotte Checkers assistant coach, before becoming head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes’ AHL affiliate with Charlotte and Chicago from 2019 to 2022.