The San Jose Sharks promoted Ryan Warsofsky to their head coaching position, making him the youngest active NHL coach and another bench boss with connections to an ECHL squad.

Ryan Warsofsky and David Quinn

Ryan Warsofsky and David Quinn

Ryan Warsofsky landed his first NHL head coaching gig with the San Jose Sharks.

The Sharks announced they promoted assistant coach Warsofsky to their head coaching position, ending a search that began on April 24 when the team fired David Quinn.

Warsofsky, 36, becomes the youngest active head coach in the NHL. Washington Capitals coach Spencer Carbery was the previous youngest active coach at 42 years old, while New Jersey Devils bench boss Sheldon Keefe is third youngest at 43.

“We’re very excited to announce Ryan as the 11th head coach of the San Jose Sharks,” Sharks GM Mike Grier said in a press release. “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.”

Warsofsky is the latest NHL coach to come out of the South Carolina Stingrays (ECHL) organization, where he spent two years behind the bench and led the team to the championship final. He follows in the footsteps of Colorado’s Jared Bednar, Washington’s Spencer Carbery and Calgary Flames assistant coach Cail MacLean in what is quickly becoming a coaching factory.

“It started with Jason Fitzsimmons. He’s now a pro scout with the Washington Capitals,” Carbery told The Hockey News earlier this year. “He hired Jared as an assistant coach after he played there and knew what the organization stood for and knew the team.

Sharks hire Ryan Warsofsky as new head coach | WTNH.com

“And then Jared hired Cail, who played there. And then Cail hired me. And then I hired Ryan Warsofsky.”

From there, Warsofsky has had head coaching stints with the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers and Chicago Wolves, winning the Calder Cup with the latter in 2022. He also won the Calder Cup in 2019 as an assistant with Charlotte.

Warsofsky served the previous two seasons overseeing the Sharks’ defense and penalty kill as an assistant coach. He’ll now take it one step further next season to help develop a team that finished last overall in the NHL this year and is expected to draft Macklin Celebrini with the first pick in the 2024 NHL draft on June 28.

“I’m overwhelmed with gratitude and excitement to be named as the head coach of the San Jose Sharks,” Warsofsky said in the release. “This a tremendous opportunity to continue to be part of a well-respected organization, and my family and I couldn’t be more excited for this next chapter.