The front office and coaching overhaul in San Jose continues as the Sharks are set to hire former New York Rangers bench boss David Quinn as their next head coach.
Quinn will take over a Sharks team that has failed to qualify for the playoffs in each of the last 3 seasons. This lack of postseason success ultimately led to the team relieving former coach Bob Boughner and his assistants of their duties on July 1st.
The 55 year old amassed a 96-87-25 record with the Rangers between 2018 and 2021, but was ultimately let go in favour of Gerard Gallant. Prior to his coaching career, Quinn was a standout prep school hockey player at Kent School in Connecticut, which ultimately led to him being selected by the Minnesota North Stars 13th overall in the 1984 NHL entry draft.
Unfortunately for the star blue liner, his playing career was cut short before it ever began as he was diagnosed with a rare blood disorder which forced him to retire before ever suiting up for an NHL game. His premature retirement would lead to him taking up a variety of coaching positions, including stints with the AHL’s Lake Erie Monsters, an assistant coaching role with the Colorado Avalanche, and head coaching duties with Boston University.
Quinn would go on to post a 105-69-21 NCAA record with the Terriers, and finished as the national runner up in 2014-15. The Rhode Island native will now join fellow BU alum Mike Grier on the west coast as they aim to turn around a Sharks team that’s been stuck in neutral since their conference finals loss in 2018-19.
Quinn’s experience working with young players in the AHL & NCAA ranks was likely a determining factor in his appointment in San Jose. The Sharks need to commit to a rebuild, and players such as William Eklund, Ryan Merkley and Filip Bystedt will need to be groomed into NHL roles. The former Rangers coach has experience navigating a franchise through a rebuild as he helped develop Alexis Lafreniere, Adam Fox, Kaapo Kakko and K’Andre Miller into full time NHL players in New York.
The Sharks recently dealt longtime blue liner Brent Burns to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Steven Lorentz, Eetu Makiniemi, and a 2023 3rd round pick in a salary shedding move. In all likelihood, San Jose’s front office isn’t done retooling their roster ahead of the 2022-23 season, but for now, they at least appear to have their new head coach in place.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner
Photo: Elliot. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.