Mike Grier on the day he was employed because the San Jose Sharks normal supervisor stated he wished a crew that was harder to play in opposition to and to that finish, made a swath of roster modifications in his first two weeks on the job.
Now in his third week, Grier is poised to rent David Quinn as his coach to assist perform that mandate.
Grier, per a supply, is predicted to introduce Quinn because the Sharks’ new head coach at a information convention Tuesday morning at SAP Middle. Quinn will change into the Sharks’ tenth full-time head coach after Bob Boughner was let go by the crew on June 30.
The Sharks introduced late Friday afternoon that Grier will introduce his new head coach on the information convention, however didn't reveal the coach’s identification.
Quinn won't be the most well-liked alternative among the many Sharks’ fanbase given his lack of success on the NHL stage, as he went 96-87-25 over three seasons with the rebuilding New York Rangers from 2018-2021. Earlier hires like Todd McLellan and Pete DeBoer had helped groups attain the Stanley Cup Ultimate, with McLellan profitable all of it as an assistant coach with Detroit in 2008 proper earlier than he joined the Sharks.
However Quinn’s scenario on Broadway was a difficult one for a first-time NHL coach, as he was tasked with guiding the Rangers by means of an expanded youth motion. In 2018-19, Quinn’s first season, eight gamers aged 23 or youthful performed a minimum of 27 video games.
Goalie Henrik Lundqvist, the 2012 Vezina Trophy winner, was on the draw back of his Corridor of Fame-worthy profession at that time and the 2019-2020 season, when the Rangers misplaced within the play-in spherical of the expanded postseason, was Lundqvist’s final.
“I actually suppose Quinny generally is a nice coach within the NHL,” defenseman Brendan Smith, who performed for Quinn for 3 years in New York, informed the Related Press earlier this yr. “The scenario he was put in (with the Rangers) was an unwinnable scenario, actually.”
The Sharks won't be favored to make the playoffs this season, however their scenario now shouldn't be the identical because the Rangers’ one again then.
Certain, the Sharks have some younger, gifted gamers, and ahead William Eklund, who might be 20 in October, will definitely vie for an NHL job as soon as camp opens in September.
The Sharks, although, patched some holes on the roster with the addition of skilled forwards Oskar Lindblom, Luke Kunin, Nico Sturm and Steven Lorentz, all gamers that Grier sees as essential components of the crew’s identification.
The Sharks’ protection might be much less dynamic with out Brent Burns, nevertheless it might be a bit deeper with Markus Nutivaara and Matt Benning. San Jose additionally has a possible No. 1 goalie in Kaapo Kahkonen coming into the prime of his profession.
That improved depth goes to push a number of the youthful professionals, notably ones on entry-level contracts, all the way down to the AHL the place they will get some wanted seasoning. In recent times, the Sharks didn’t give themselves that luxurious, and a number of the Rangers gamers that Quinn coached needed to study on the fly as effectively.
“New York despatched out a letter that they’re going to deliver alongside the younger guys, and in any respect prices,” stated Smith, who signed with New Jersey as a free agent on July 13.
“That turns into very tough, particularly within the crew dynamic as a result of then younger guys can get away with making errors and older guys can’t and older guys get punished, and you then make a divide of the room and a divide from the coaches.”
Quinn was fired by the Rangers on Could 12, 2021, per week after John Davidson and Jeff Gorton had been let go as president and normal supervisor, respectively, by proprietor Jim Dolan. With Chris Drury taking up as the brand new GM, Quinn, predictably, was let go.
Gorton is now the Montreal Canadiens’ government vice chairman of hockey operations, and Davidson is again with the Columbus Blue Jackets as their president of hockey ops.
It was reported that Dolan wished so as to add extra grit and sandpaper to the roster to go together with the expert gamers the Rangers had amassed. Quinn, a visitor of the Cam and Strick Podcast in Nov. 2021, agreed a sure ingredient was missing, though the mandate again then was to develop the youthful gamers.
“We talked about it for 3 years how we have now to get tougher to play in opposition to. It was a part of the method of constructing a crew when you could have children in your lineup,” Quinn stated. “Our third line final yr was (Filip) Chytil, (Kaapo) Kakko, and (Alexis) Lafrenière, that will’ve been an amazing line for me at (Boston College).”
Quinn additionally added, “While you’re constructed a sure approach and the scenario we had been in, you’re going to be wanting one thing. That’s what we had been wanting.”
It seems Quinn gained’t have that challenge with the Sharks, and now he may discover himself in a greater scenario than he was in New York.
SIGNING: The Sharks have signed ahead Steven Lorentz, 26, to a two-year contract. Per a supply, the deal is value $950,000 this upcoming season and $1.150 million in 2023-24 for a median annual worth of $1.05 million. Lorentz, a restricted free agent who had elected wage arbitration, can change into an unrestricted free agent on the finish of the contract. Lorentz got here to San Jose on July 13 as a part of the Brent Burns commerce with the Carolina Hurricanes.