Sharks' general manager search entering a significant juncture

The San Jose Sharks are close to entering the final stages of their search for a new general manager.

The Sharks have finished interviews with a dozen candidates. and in the next week will narrow the list before they begin the next step of the process, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reported Saturday.

LeBrun said the recently completed interviews lasted from 4-6 hours each.

It's expected that after the list is narrowed, three to five people will remain in the running for the GM job.

The Sharks began their external search for a new general manager shortly after Doug Wilson announced on April 7 that he was stepping down from the position after 19 years.

Joe Will has been the Sharks' interim GM since the announcement was made.

Sharks team president Jonathan Becher said on May 10 that the search committee, which includes himself, Will and owner Hasso Plattner, started with a list of more than 50 candidates and that the number at that time had been whittled to between 20 and 25.

Names that have been in connection with the job include John Ferguson Jr., Kevin Weekes, Ray Whitney, Ryan Martin, Mike Grier and player agent Allain Roy. Becher has said previously that prior NHL general manager experience was not a prerequisite for the Sharks position.

Those who have prior connections to the Sharks include Ferguson, the Arizona Coyotes assistant GM who was San Jose's director of pro scouting from 2008 to 2014, and both Whitney and Grier, who played for the team.

Whitney, now with the NHL's Department of Player Safety, was the Sharks' second-round draft choice in 1991 and played with the team until 1997, eventually retiring in 2014 after 1,330 games.

Grier, now a hockey operations adviser with the New York Rangers, played for the Sharks from 2006 to 2009 as part of a 14-year career that ended in 2011.

Becher said it wasn't necessary for the Sharks to have a fulltime GM in place prior to the NHL draft, which begins July 7 in Montreal, or the start of free agency on July 13.