New Coaches in 2024-25: Ryan Warsofsky, San Jose Sharks

Promoted from assistant coach, Warsofsky will be tasked with bringing together a new core in San Jose.

The San Jose Sharks are in the midst of a rebuild trying to establish a new core around top prospects Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, and William Eklund. They recently added Yaroslav Askarov to that core and are now hoping that new head coach Ryan Warsofsky can be the man to bring the group together and form a contender in the future.

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Warsofsky’s Coaching Career Before the Sharks

Warsofsky is the youngest coach in the NHL at 36 years old. He has never suited up in the NHL, finishing his playing career in 2011-12 after three seasons in the NCAA with Sacred Heart University and Curry College and one season bouncing between the California Hockey League’s Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees (three games), the Federal Hockey League’s New York Bluefins (one game), and the Turnhout White Caps in the Netherlands. He spent most of his time overseas with the White Caps, scoring seven goals and 19 points in 20 games.

Ryan Warsofsky, head coach of the San Jose Sharks (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)

Warsofsky immediately shifted to coaching in 2012-13, returning to his alma mater Curry College in Division III of the NCAA as an assistant coach under T.J. Manastersky. He only spent one season there, moving to the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays in 2013-14 before getting promoted to head coach and director of hockey operations in 2016-17.

He then moved up to the American Hockey League (AHL) in 2018-19 as an assistant coach with the Charlotte Checkers where he was promoted after one season to head coach. Finally, before getting his chance in the NHL with the Sharks, he was the bench boss of the Chicago Wolves for two seasons where he won the Calder Cup in 2021-22.

Warsofsky got the call to the NHL in 2022-23 when the Sharks brought him up as an assistant coach under David Quinn. After two seasons, he is now the main man charged with returning the franchise to respectability. He’s got his work cut out for him with a mostly young core, but that’s something he’s used to having coached his entire career in the minor leagues.

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Warsofsky’s Experience in the AHL & ECHL Will Serve Him Well Coaching a Rebuilding Team

Warsofsky is probably the perfect coach to lead the Sharks right now. He has the competitive fire that comes from working his way up the coaching ranks from the ECHL to the AHL, and now the NHL, something that a lot of coaches haven’t done on their way to the big leagues. While he’s never suited up for a game in the NHL and this is his first head coaching gig at this level, he has worked in two tough development leagues which require constant adjustment due to call-ups and changing rosters every season.