GM Wilson not ready to announce Boughner as coach
GM says nothing is imminent in naming a full-time coach
Are the San Jose Sharks about to give Bob Boughner a contract extension and name him the ninth fulltime head coach in franchise history?
Not at the moment. Thursday afternoon, Darren Dreger of TSN reported that Boughner, who has been the Sharks’ interim coach since December, was believed to have earned a extension with the team and that Rocky Thompson, who coached the Chicago Wolves of the AHL the past three seasons, would join his staff.
Although Boughner has been labeled as the frontrunner for the Sharks’ fulltime head coaching position since the spring, general manager Doug Wilson said Thursday he has not finalized a decision.
“At this time, we have nothing official to report in regards to our coaching staff for the coming season.,” Wilson said via text message. “The process of identifying candidates to fill out our staff is on-going.”
Reached by text message Thursday, Boughner told Bay Area News Group, “All I can confirm at this point is that I have a very good relationship with Rocky and I’m going through the process with Doug on my own situation. Other than that, nothing to report.”
Earlier Thursday, Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon told reporters Thompson was leaving the organization for a coaching opportunity with an NHL team.
In 2015, Thompson replaced Boughner as coach of the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires. Boughner, a co-owner of the team, had stepped down as Windsor’s coach to join Pete DeBoer’s staff in San Jose.
Boughner took over as the Sharks’ head coach on an interim basis on Dec. 11 after DeBoer and three assistants were fired following a 15-16-2 start to the season.
With a roster beset by injury, Boughner had a 1420-3 record before the NHL paused its season on March 12. The Sharks played better defensively, but finished the season with a 29-36-5 record and 63 points, thirdfewest in the league.
Still, Wilson, this spring, labeled Boughner as having the “upper-hand” to become the next full-time coach, believing his knowledge of the roster and past experience as Florida’s bench boss from 2017-2019 would serve him well going forward.
Boughner, 49, also received approval of the job he did as interim coach from players like captain Logan Couture and Norris Trophy winners Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson, with Karlsson saying in May, “Even though (Boughner’s) future was uncertain, I think he did the right thing for the organization and the team moving forward, not necessarily for the season that we were in.”
The NHL presently has three interim head coaches — Boughner, Geoff Ward in Calgary and Rick Bowness in Dallas. Dean Evason, an original Shark, was named Minnesota’s interim coach Feb. 14 after Bruce Boudreau was fired. Evason was named the Wild’s full-time coach earlier this week.