SAN JOSE, Calif. — Sharks president Jonathan Becher joked that his phone was already buzzing with interested parties Thursday after Doug Wilson announced he was stepping down as the team’s general manager.
The Sharks are about to undertake their first general manager search in close to two decades after Wilson, who had been on medical leave, announced he was parting ways with the organization to focus on his well-being.
Wilson, 64, had been away from the team since late November for undisclosed health reasons.
Becher, interim general manager Joe Will and owner Hasso Plattner will lead the search committee. For now, the team is looking for an external replacement, so it appears potential internal candidates for the full-time position like Will, Sharks director of scouting Doug Wilson Jr. and scout Ned Colletti won’t necessarily be considered right away.
“One of the reasons we’re looking externally is we will get new ideas, we’ll hear new things,” Becher said. “We’re not necessarily going to do things exactly the same way. By definition, a new GM will have new ideas.”
The Sharks do not have a specific timeline in mind for a hire, so they feel they will not necessarily need to have someone in place prior to the NHL draft on July 7-8 or when free agency gets underway the following week.
“We’ll see where this goes,” Will said. “But I have no doubt there’s going to be some very good candidates out there. At that point in time, we’ll be sifting through that and who is really the best fit to mesh with our needs here in San Jose.”
The Sharks are about to miss the playoffs for the third straight year but feel they can be in a more competitive position next season.
“End of the day, the general manager is the general manager, they have the ability to do what they need to do for the club,” Will said. “But having said that, the (hiring) decision there will be based upon aligning with the core philosophies of the organization.”
Some potential candidates (in alphabetical order):
SEAN BURKE
Burke, 55, a scout and the director of goaltending for the Montreal Canadiens, recently interviewed for the formerly open general manager job in Vancouver, so he’s certainly no stranger to the process.
Burke was part of the Coyotes’ management group for six seasons, holding the titles of director of player development and assistant general manager. He also played 18 NHL seasons, represented Canada at the 1988 and 1992 Winter Olympics and was Team Canada’s GM at the 2018 Games in PyeongChang. Perhaps this is his time to lead an NHL franchise.
MATHIEU DARCHE
Darche, 45, played pro hockey for 12 seasons, including one year in the Sharks organization, although mostly in the AHL with Worcester. More relevant is his front office experience, as he’s in his third season as Tampa Bay’s director of hockey operations, working alongside Lightning GM Julien BriseBois.
Darche was a finalist for GM jobs in Vancouver and Chicago and is largely seen as an up-and-comer in the front office world.
CHRIS MacFARLAND
Is in his seventh season as the assistant general manager of the Colorado Avalanche, working as GM Joe Sakic’s right-hand man.
MacFarland, 51, also spent 16 years in the hockey operations department of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Colorado’s turnaround from cellar-dweller a few years ago to Stanley Cup contender now makes MacFarland an intriguing potential candidate.
SCOTT MELLANBY
Mellanby, 55, worked with the Canadiens for nine seasons but resigned his position as the team’s assistant general manager when he wasn’t promoted to the GM’s chair after Marc Bergevin stepped down in November.
Mellanby’s name has come up whenever an NHL GM job opens up, and he would be a fairly orthodox pick for the Sharks. Besides his front office experience, he also played 1,431 games in the NHL over 21 seasons.
SCOTT NICHOL
Nichol, 47, is certainly familiar to Sharks fans after he played two seasons for the team from 2009 to 2011. He’s worked in the Nashville organization since 2013 as the team’s director of player development, has been the GM of the Milwaukee Admirals since 2018, and is in his first season as a Predators assistant GM.
ERIC TULSKY
Is in his eighth season in the Carolina Hurricanes’ front office and has a Ph.D. in chemistry from UC Berkeley. He also holds a B.A. in chemistry and physics from Harvard.
Perhaps not surprisingly, Tulsky’s strength lies in analytics as Carolina has been among the NHL’s best teams in terms of finding value players. Tulsky would be more of an out-of-the-box selection for the Sharks, but he was also a candidate for the Blackhawks’ job, so he knows the process.
Could Tulsky’s impressive academic background pique the interest of both Plattner and Becher, both of whom have master’s degrees? Well, at least it might be enough to get Tulsky’s foot in the door.
