Decisions to make as SJ hunts for new general manager

SAN JOSE >> Sharks interim general manager Joe Will did not make any declarations Monday as to when the organization will have a permanent general manager in place or if Bob Boughner will return as the team's head coach.

“We don't want to limit ourselves by putting a date really on anything,” Will said Monday. “Ideally, would you like to have people in place prior to the draft and free agency? You would, as long as you're comfortable with who's there.”

The Sharks are about to embark on a busy and pivotal offseason as they continue what could be a lengthy search for a new fulltime GM after Doug Wilson stepped down last month after 19 years on the job.

There are also questions about whether Boughner will be back behind the bench, and what the Sharks can do to return to relevance after missing the playoffs for a third consecutive season.

Will said the Sharks are narrowing an original list of GM candidates, previously estimated by team president Jonathan Becher to be around 50 people, and will soon begin formal interviews.

Whoever is hired will have to mesh with the Sharks' front office's line of thinking — that the team is capable of returning to contender status soon with no interest in a deeper rebuild.

“The one thing I don't think we're looking at is like a scorched earth-type scenario to say we're just going to kind of start over,” Will said. “In that regard, we're down the path on a lot of things and there's a lot of a lot of good things to build on here.”

Assuming the Sharks are looking at GM candidates now working with other

NHL teams, it's possible that those individuals will not become available until after the Stanley Cup playoffs end in late June.

“It's always the earlier the better,” Will said, “but provided the person's there that you want.”

Earlier Monday, Boughner said he is still unsure as to whether he'll be back as the Sharks' coach next season.

Boughner said he and Will are planning to talk in the near future but did not know if someone in the Sharks' current management structure or the new GM would decide whether he says or goes.

“I would say this that, obviously, sooner than later, we'll have to know so we can move forward,” said Boughner, who has one more year on the three-year contract he signed prior to the start of the 2020-2021 season.

“Whether that's a new GM or whether that's Joe or management or ownership making those decisions, you'd have to ask him.”

Boughner has a record of 67-85-23 with the Sharks since Dec 11, 2019, when he took over coaching duties following the dismissal of Pete Deboer and three assistants.

The Sharks finished 22nd in the NHL'S overall standings this season with a 3237-13 record for 77 points — 20 points back of the Nashville Predators for the second and final wild-card spot in the Western Conference.

“It's been just such a busy weekend for everybody that we haven't even really crossed that bridge and there's no date, there's no ultimatums or anything like that,” said Boughner. “But I've said this before, my staff and myself have put a lot of time in with this group and we want to be a part of it moving forward. I've said there's light at the end of the tunnel here for sure.”