San Jose Sharks general manager Mike Grier announced today that the team has named Ryan Warsofsky head coach. Warsofsky will become the 11th head coach in Sharks franchise history.
Warsofsky, 36, is entering his third season with the Sharks organization. He served as an assistant coach for the previous two seasons. In that role, his primary responsibilities were overseeing the team’s defense and penalty kill. Working with one of the younger rosters in the NHL, the Sharks penalty kill ranked 18th in the NHL between 2022 and 2024 at 78.8%.
Warsofsky joined the Sharks following two seasons (2020-22) as head coach of the Chicago Wolves (AHL). He led the Wolves to the AHL’s best regular-season record with a 50-16-5-5 record (.724%) in 2021-22 and captured the 2022 Calder Cup, his second Calder Cup championship, earning a 14-4 record over four different series during the playoffs. The year prior, in his first stint with Chicago, he guided the team to the third-best record in the league (21-9-1-2), but the AHL did not hold a formal playoff due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In his two seasons, the Wolves amassed a 71-25-6-7 record, and the team’s penalty kill ranked in the top 10 twice (2021-22, fifth; 2020-21, ninth), and the power-play ranked fourth in 2020-21.
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Prior to his time with Chicago, Warsofsky worked with the Charlotte Checkers (AHL) for two seasons. He started as an assistant coach in 2017-18 and helped the team capture the Calder Cup 2017-18, overseeing the top penalty-killing unit in the league (86.6%). The following year, in the abbreviated season, he was named the league’s youngest head coach (31) on July 10, 2019, and guided the team to a 34-22-5-0 while ranking third in both power-play and penalty kill percentage.
As a head coach in the AHL with Chicago and Charlotte, Warsofsky earned a 105-47-11-7 record (.671%).
“We’re very excited to announce Ryan as the 11th head coach of the San Jose Sharks,” said Grier. “His track record of success at nearly every level of hockey as a head and assistant coach speaks for itself. Ryan knows our existing group well, has the respect of the players who he will be working with, and will be a great teacher for the young players who will be joining our organization.”
