New Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky looks to bring ‘light’ to a struggling franchise

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Ryan Warsofsky had a front-row seat to some of the worst hockey played by the San Jose Sharks since their expansion days as an assistant under David Quinn the past two seasons.

Now the 36-year-old who was hired last week as the youngest coach in the NHL will be tasked with overseeing a youth movement led by projected No. 1 overall draft pick Macklin Celebrini that Sharks general manager Mike Grier hopes can get the franchise back into contention.

“We just went through two really tough years. I know what they need,” Warsofsky said at his introductory news conference Monday. “They’re beat up a little bit. We need some new light. We need some energy. We need some positivity. Now we have some hope with the prospects that are coming. This is a really exciting chapter in this franchise with the prospects that Mike’s brought in and drafted and we’re starting to develop and now with this draft coming up. So exciting times are definitely ahead.”

Those exciting times have been lacking since San Jose made a run to the Western Conference Final in 2019. San Jose has missed the playoffs for five straight seasons and bottomed out the past two as Grier began a teardown that now seems primed to bear fruit in a rebuild.

Grier traded away several star veterans such as Erik Karlsson, Brent Burns, Tomas Hertl and Timo Meier to help restock a prospect pool that was bereft when he took over and now will add the No. 1 overall pick after winning the draft lottery last month to a group that has several talented young players.

Grier believed Warsofsky was the perfect fit to lead a young group with his ability to communicate and relate with young players and his experience developing them as a successful coach in the AHL before joining San Jose.

“He’s a great communicator, which is going to be important,” Grier said. “We’re going to have a young group here. Connecting and speaking with and bonding with these young players is going to be super important. It’s going to be a big part of us taking the next step forward. He just checked every box to us.”

Warsofsky previously had been head coach of the Chicago Wolves for two seasons in the AHL. He led the Wolves to the AHL’s best regular-season record with a 50-16-5-5 record in 2021-22 and captured the 2022 Calder Cup.

That kind of success has been lacking in San Jose.

The Sharks went 41-98-25 in Quinn’s two seasons for…