Max Miller
Ryan Warsofsky completed his second season behind the San Jose Sharks bench with a 19-win improvement from his first season.
The 38-year-old has won at the ECHL and AHL levels before and was considered one of the best up-and-coming coaches in the NHL. With Macklin Celebrini leading the way, Warsofsky has helped put the pieces together for the Sharks’ turnaround. Questions about his future will continue to rise at the start of next season, given his contract status.
According to NHL Insider Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, the San Jose Sharks coach signed a three-year deal in 2024. During his exit interview, Warsofsky was asked about a possible extension before the start of the 26-27 season. It is common for coaches in many sports not to coach a season on an expiring deal.
“Yeah, we’ll see. We’ll talk to Mike [Grier]. Those are private conversations,” Warsofsky said. “Of course, yeah, I love this organization. I love this area. My family loves it here. I love seeing Shark Tank [full]. There’s no better feeling than to be the head coach of this team [and getting them] back in the playoffs, I can tell you that. I can see the passion. I can see how bad people want it. To hopefully deliver that would be a dream come true for myself.”
But what does San Jose Sharks GM Mike Grier think about his head coach? With lineup decisions late in the season heavily criticized and the Sharks slipping out of a playoff spot, frustration grew among the Sharks’ fan base. Despite the disappointing end, Warsofsky has righted the ship in the direction Grier and the front office have wanted.
“He’s done a good job,” Grier said. “I would say there’s no reason to think that he won’t be the coach here when the season starts next year. We’ll take it from there.”
With Warsofsky returning, regardless of any extension at this point, what about the rest of his coaching staff? Warsofsky told reporters that all of his assistants want to return. Grier ultimately gets the final call, so it may not be up to the Sharks’ current head coach. Like Warsofsky, Grier feels the entire staff did a “good job” this season.
“I think those guys did a good job. This time of year. I know you guys (media) all have to ask the questions, but they did a good job,” Grier said. “For us, it’s kind of the beginning of the evaluation season for coaches, players, staff, everyone, but I think they did a good job.”
With votes of confidence from the head man, the San Jose Sharks will need to improve on the successes of 25-26 if they want to get extensions. Both Grier and Warsofsky identified the first place the San Jose Sharks need to improve.
“We’ve got to keep the puck out of our net at the end of the day. I think that’s the main thing. As a group, I think we have to improve defensively,” Grier said. “Our special teams have to improve, both of them, power play [and] PK. I would say those are the main things.”
“That’ll be the first thing I’ll dive into, is we got to keep the puck out of our net. That’s for sure,” Warsofsky said. “We’ll look back, and we’ll look at all the goals against, and we’ll look at whether that’s penalty kill, short-handed goals, any situation, we’ll look at it, and we’ll make some changes that need to be made. But that will be step number one, keeping the puck out of our net.”
The Sharks have two defensemen signed for next season: Dmitry Orlov and Sam Dickinson. Shakir Mukhamadullin is an RFA, and the rest are all UFAs.
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