The San Jose Sharks announced today that they have hired Ryan Warsofsky as their new head coach.
“We’re very excited to announce Ryan as the 11th head coach of the San Jose Sharks,” said San Jose general manager Mike Grier in a press release. “His track record of success at nearly every level of hockey as a head and assistant coach speaks for itself. Ryan knows our existing group well, has the respect of the players who he will be working with, and will be a great teacher for the young players who will be joining our organization.”
Warsofsky, 36 and now the youngest head coach in the league, had served as an assistant coach with the Sharks for the past two seasons, but before that, he spent four years with the Carolina Hurricanes organization.
He was hired in 2018 as an assistant coach with the Charlotte Checkers where he coached behind head coach Mike Vellucci.
After the Checkers won the Calder Cup that year, Vellucci took a job with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Warsofsky was promoted to head coach.
He served as the head coach for the Checkers for one more season before the Hurricanes switched affiliates to the Chicago Wolves.
In the 2021-22 season, Warsofsky was part of yet another Calder Cup winning team, this time as the head coach.
Following that season, he was hired by the Sharks.
Warsofsky oversaw the development of quite a few players that have gone on to become NHL regulars.
Guys like Jalen Chatfield, Jack Drury, Morgan Geekie and even Seth Jarvis for a bit.
The Massachusetts native also learned a lot from the Canes' organization as the teams he's coached have had strong team defenses and penalty kills.
Warsofsky has a proven track record of success and he'll see if he can keep that up in the NHL.
“I’m overwhelmed with gratitude and excitement to be named as the head coach of the San Jose Sharks,” Warsofsky said in a press release. “This a tremendous opportunity to continue to be part of a well-respected organization, and my family and I couldn’t be more excited for this next chapter. I want to thank our Owner Hasso Plattner, President Jonathan Becher, General Manager Mike Grier and Assistant GM’s Tom Holy and Joe Will for their trust in me. This is an organization that has a rich history of winning, and I can’t wait to get to work on coaching a team that our fans can be proud of.”
