Associated Press
SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose Sharks have hired former New York Rangers coach David Quinn as their new head coach.
The Sharks announced Tuesday that Quinn would replace the fired Bob Boughner as the Sharks overhaul their management and coaching team.
“His previous NHL head coaching experience is valuable to us and he implements a system that will fit with our philosophy of being a hard team to play against,” general manager Mike Grier said in a statement. “We are extremely happy to have him a part of this organization.”
Quinn, 55, coached the Rangers for three seasons from 2018 to ’21, posting a 96-87-25 record. New York never made it as far as the conference quarterfinals in Quinn’s three seasons, missing the playoffs in 2019 and ’21 and losing in the qualifying round in the COVID bubble in 2020.
Quinn had previously been head coach for five seasons in college at Boston University. He also coached the U.S. Olympic team to a fifth-place finish in Beijing last February.
The Sharks have undergone an organizational overhaul after missing the playoffs for a third straight season for the first time in franchise history.
Longtime general manager Doug Wilson stepped down for medical reasons in April and Boughner was fired along with three assistants in late June after posting a 67-85-23 record in two-plus seasons at the helm.
San Jose hired Grier as general manager earlier in July. Grier has already made significant changes in the front office and now has hired a new coach in hopes of turning the Sharks’ fortunes around.
The Sharks traded away star defenseman Brent Burns earlier this month and have added several veterans such as forwards Oskar Lindblom, Luke Kunin, Nico Sturm and Steven Lorentz, and defensemen Markus Nutivaara and Matt Benning in hopes of adding more depth to the roster.
Quinn takes over a roster that struggled to score last season but does have a few key pieces in place, including forwards Tomas Hertl, Logan Couture and Timo Meier, and defenseman Erik Karlsson.