Quinn loses job after two dismal seasons
David Quinn has been fired as the San Jose Sharks’ head coach, the team announced Wednesday.
The Sharks finished this season an NHL-worst 19-54-9. In Quinn’s two seasons, they were 41-98-25. He inherited a team in the midst of a rebuild in 202223, but general manager Mike Grier still chose not to bring him back.
The Sharks started this season 0-10-1 and also had losing streaks of 12 and nine games (twice). They were outscored by 150 goals this season — the NHL’s 10th-worst mark ever and the worst in 30 years. They also set a franchise record for fewest goals scored per game (2.21) and had the fourth-worst mark in team history in goals allowed per game (4.04).
“The record didn’t play into the decision,” Grier said to reporters Wednesday. “It’s not all performance-related. I knew what the roster was and we weren’t expected to make the playoffs.”
Quinn, who was the 11th head coach in franchise history, had a year left on his contract. Grier said the decision to let him go was made Tuesday evening, and that he believed the players needed a different voice. Quinn said he has a lengthy list of coaching options to target during the offseason.
Quinn was Grier’s hire after he replaced general manager Doug Wilson in the summer of 2022. Since then, while the Sharks have struggled, Grier has traded Erik Karlsson, Brent Burns, Tomas Hertl and Timo Meier. San Jose missed the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season and has the NHL’s worst record in that span.
Assistant coaches Scott Gordon, Brian Wiseman and Ryan Warsofsky and goaltending coach Thomas Speer will remain with the team for now, according to Grier, but the staff will be decided by the new head coach.
The Sharks enter the offseason with the best odds to land the No. 1 pick in the draft lottery, projected to be Boston University’s Macklin Celebrini. The Hobey Baker Award winner, who played one season for the Sharks’ junior team while living in the Bay Area, is the son of Golden State Warriors director of sports medicine and performance Rick Celebrini.
During the Sharks’ rebuild, Grier has acquired significant draft capital with two extra first-round picks in the next two seasons while arranging for a large amount of salary to come off the books after next season.