Sharks coaching search: Seven names, young and (older), to ponder in San Jose
NHL Mike Grier figures to cast a wide net as he searches for the San Jose Sharks' next head coach
The San Jose Sharks are starting a coaching search for the second time in three years after the organization fired David Quinn after just two seasons.
While Quinn was considered the favorite to get the job in July 2022, shortly after Mike Grier was named the team’s general manager, there does not appear to be a similar obvious choice this time.
Instead, it seems Grier will cast a wide net when it comes to finding the Sharks’ next coach.
“We’re building a list of candidates we’d like to speak to,” Grier said Wednesday, roughly an hour after Quinn’s dismissal was announced. “I don’t really have a hard timeline. This is a tough day and a tough week. … We’ll start getting into it as the week goes on, but I don’t have any hard timelines and when it will get done.”
NHL or professional coaching experience is a good thing, Grier said. But he also did not want to rule out any other candidate who could come in and impress him or owner Hasso Plattner.
“I’m not going to rule out anything or anyone if a candidate comes up that blew us away,” Grier said. “At the same time, someone who’s had some sort of time or experience in the NHL, or pro hockey, would be beneficial.
“But I don’t want to rule anyone out if there’s someone that we come across that we’d like to speak to.”
The successful candidate would need to possess certain traits Grier and the Sharks hold dear at this stage of the team’s rebuild. That might include implementing a tighter defensive system or creating a less comfortable atmosphere around the team.
“Meeting with the players and reviewing the season, I think I have an idea of what they’re looking for, what they need and what I think they need,” Grier said. “But I think I’ll keep that internal for now.”
Here are seven names, in alphabetical order, to become the Sharks’ next head coach.
CRAIG BERUBE: Berube, 58, figures to gain some interest this offseason as a Stanley Cup-winning coach. He helped turn around St. Louis’ season in 2018-19 before the Blues went on to win the franchise’s first championship.
Berube has a demanding style, and if Grier views him as a candidate for the Sharks’ job, he’ll have to determine whether the former enforcer is the right guy for this stage of the team’s rebuild. But there’s little doubt that Berube gets results, as his teams have had an above .500 points percentage in six of his seven seasons as a coach with the Blues and Philadelphia Flyers.
Berube and Grier seem to share an interest in big-boy hockey. In his NHL career, Berube had 3,149 penalty minutes in 1,054 games.
DAVID CARLE: If NHL coaching experience is not a prerequisite for the Sharks’ job, perhaps Carle, 34, will be considered. He’s run a successful program at the University of Denver for six years, and the Pioneers just won the NCAA Division I national championship.
Grier could be open-minded about hiring a college coach, given his background. Carle is considered one of the game’s bright young minds, and he could grow into the role of the Sharks’ coach alongside a rebuilding team. But hiring anyone without pro experience is a risky proposition, and if it fails and the Sharks need to look for another coach in two years, then Grier himself might be on thin ice.
DEAN EVASON: An original Shark, Evason, 59, was fired as the Minnesota Wild’s coach earlier this season after the team got off to a 5-10-4 start. Prior to that, though, Evason had a 142-67-23 record in Minnesota, leading the Wild to three straight playoff appearances, although the team failed to advance past the first round.
Evason also has experience dealing with younger players from his experience as the Milwaukee Admirals’ head coach from 2012 to 2018. He also has a history with a handful of Sharks players, including Mikael Granlund, Luke Kunin, Nico Sturm, and Calen Addison.
If the Sharks are looking for a departure from Quinn’s more easy-going style, they’ll find it in the intense Evason, who had 1,002 penalty minutes in 803 career NHL games. From 1991 to 1993 with the Sharks, Evason had 57 points and 231 penalty minutes.
GERARD GALLANT: If we’re going with the connections route, perhaps Gallant, 60, is a name to watch in San Jose. He became the Rangers’ head coach in 2021-2022, shortly after the team named Grier hockey operations adviser. They only spent one season together in New York before Grier was named the Sharks’ GM.
Gallant had winning records as a head coach with the Rangers, Vegas Golden Knights, and Florida Panthers. But is he a fit for the Sharks, given that the team is at least two years, and quite possibly more, from being a playoff contender?
MITCH LOVE: Love, 39, was in the mix for the Calgary Flames’ head coaching position last offseason before he ultimately joined the Washington Capitals as an assistant on Spencer Carbury’s staff. The one knock was that he lacked NHL coaching experience. He has that now.
Love was a successful coach in the WHL for three seasons from 2018 to 2021 before he was named coach of the Flames’ AHL affiliate. In two years, his teams went a combined 96-33-11, and he was named the AHL’s Coach of the Year both seasons.
Love would be a bold choice for Grier, but perhaps he’s the right one at this stage of the Sharks’ rebuild.
ALAIN NASREDDINE: Nasreddine, 48, might be ready to become a full-time NHL head coach for the first time. He has nine years of experience as an NHL assistant coach and is now in his second season as an assistant on Pete DeBoer’s staff in Dallas.
A no-frills defenseman during a 15-year pro career, Nasreddine has a history with Grier, as the two were on John Hynes’ staff for two seasons in New Jersey. Grier would easily surmise whether Nasreddine is the right guy for right now.
Perhaps Nasreddine’s only drawback is that he has limited experience as a head coach at the pro level. His only bench boss experience came in 2019-2020 as an interim head coach. After Hynes was fired after 26 games that season, Nasreddine took over and had a 19-16-8 record down the stretch.
JAY WOODCROFT: Woodcroft, 47, and Grier overlapped in San Jose by a year in 2008-09. Woodcroft was an assistant on Todd McLellan’s staff while Grier was in the final year of his three-year contract with the Sharks.
Woodcroft has 10 years as an NHL assistant coach, four years as an AHL head coach, and 120 games as an NHL head coach, having led the Edmonton Oilers from Feb. 2022 to Nov. 2023.
Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Logan Couture are the two Sharks players coached by Woodcroft, who no doubt learned from working in a hockey-mad market like Edmonton. Is his style, though, enough of a departure from Quinn’s?