San Jose Sharks clean house, fire Pete DeBoer, three assistants

SAN JOSE — Frustrated by a lack of consistency and seeing a need for a new direction, Sharks general manager Doug Wilson cleaned house Wednesday, firing Pete DeBoer and naming Bob Boughner interim coach in an effort to spark the team back into a playoff position.

Assistant coaches Steve Spott, Dave Barr and Johan Hedberg were also let go amid a rare and sweeping midseason purge by the Sharks, who are in danger of missing the playoffs for just the second time in the last 16 seasons.

The Sharks flew back to San Jose on Wednesday, a day after they lost 3-1 to the Nashville Predators to finish a four-game road trip at 0-3-1 and fall to 15-16-2 on the season. The Sharks are in sixth place in the Pacific Division, five points out of a playoff spot.

“When you have had a level of past success, change is never easy, but we feel this team is capable of much more than we have shown thus far and that a new voice is needed,” Wilson said in a statement.

“As a team and as individuals, our play has not met expectations this year and our level of consistency has not been where it needs to be. This group of individuals who will lead our team moving forward are very familiar with our players, and we think this change can provide our group with a fresh start.”

The Sharks will hold a news conference with Wilson and Boughner at noon on Thursday at SAP Center. They play the New York Rangers that evening.

Boughner will be joined on the Sharks’ bench by associate Roy Sommer, who has coached San Jose’s AHL affiliate since 1998. Former Sharks player and development coach Mike Ricci and goaltending coach Evgeni Nabokov were named assistants. Dan Darrow will remain in his current role of assistant coach, video.

DeBoer, 51, had a record of 198-129-34 in 361 games over four-plus seasons in San Jose as he led the team to its first and only appearance in the Stanley Cup Final in 2016. The Sharks, though, have lost five straight games and with just 32 points, are off to their worst start after 33 games since the 2002-03 season.

SEASON PASS DIGITAL OFFER

If you have not already, we strongly encourage you to sign up for a digital subscription, which gives you access to all content on the Mercury News and East Bay Times websites. With your support, we can continue bringing these stories — and much more — to your screens. Here’s where to sign up for the season pass: Mercury News, East Bay Times.

Per Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic, the Sharks decision to fire DeBoer was solely hockey-related. DeBoer had this year and next year left on his contract at a salary of $3 million per season.

The Sharks made the playoffs in each of DeBoer’s four seasons, as the team also advanced to the Western Conference Final this spring before they lost to eventual Cup champion St. Louis in six games.

For complete Sharks coveragefollow us on Flipboard.

Boughner, 48, spent the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons as DeBoer’s assistant before he was hired as the Florida Panthers’ head coach in 2017. Boughner was brought back to be an assistant with DeBoer in May after he was fired by the Panthers in April.

Sommer, the AHL’s all-time leader in wins and games coached with a record of 772-664-48-153, has been with the Sharks organization since the 1996-97 season when he was an assistant under then-head coach Al Sims. Ricci and Nabokov are both former fan favorites as Sharks players who have been in development roles with the organization in recent years.

The moves to bring in Sommer, Ricci and Nabokov appear to be an indication the Sharks want to give fresh starts and new looks to some younger players in the organization.

The Sharks lost former captain Joe Pavelski, plus Joonas Donskoi and Gus Nyquist, to free agency in July, and their hope was that younger players in the system would seize the opportunity to win NHL jobs.

The Sharks started the year with four rookies on their roster, although just defenseman Mario Ferraro and forward Dylan Gambrell remain in the NHL.

Erik Karlsson was signed to an eight-year, $92 million contract extension in June, making the two-time Norris Trophy winner the highest paid defenseman in the NHL.

But the team, which got off to an 0-4-0 start to the season, has struggled in several areas.

After 33 games, the Sharks have scored an average of 2.64 goals per game, 24th-best in the 31-team NHL, and ranked 21st in the league in 5-on-5 scoring.

On special teams, the Sharks ranked first in the NHL on the penalty kill but had fallen to 23rd in the league on the power play, overseen by Spott, at just 16.0 percent.

Hedberg, the former goalie coach, took the fall for the team’s save percentage of .887, which, as of Wednesday, is the third-worst in the NHL, ahead of only New Jersey (.884) and Detroit (.876).

After starting the season with four straight losses, and falling at one point to 4-10-1 by late October, the Sharks rebounded with six straight victories and won 11 of 15 games in November.

This month, though, began with a 5-2 home loss to the Washington Capitals. The Sharks started the road trip with a 3-2 shootout loss to the Carolina Panthers last Thursday, but were then smoked 7-1 by the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday and 5-1 by the Panthers on Sunday.

DeBoer was first hired by the Sharks on May 28, 2015. He took over as coach roughly a month after the Sharks and Todd McLellan mutually parted ways after the team missed the playoffs that spring.

Related Articles Goalie assist: How Evgeni Nabokov guided both Anton Khudobin, Andrei Vasilevskiy

Boughner, Wilson explain how they plan to bring Sharks back to contention

Sharks name Bob Boughner coach — now comes the hard part for Doug Wilson

Former Sharks providing full value to Stanley Cup-bound teams

Sharks will soon make Bob Boughner their full-time coach, per report DeBoer previously coached the New Jersey Devils for three-plus seasons from 2011-2014, helping the team reach the Stanley Cup Final in 2012 before losing to the Los Angeles Kings. He also coached the Panthers for three seasons from 2008-2011.

In 855 NHL regular season games coached, DeBoer has a career record of 415-329-111. With 198 victories, he is the third-winningest coach in Sharks history, trailing only McLellan (311) and Ron Wilson (206).

This marks the first time Doug Wilson, who took over as general manager in 2003, has fired a coach midseason. Ron Wilson was let go in May 2008 after the Sharks lost in the second round of the playoffs.

Share this: Print

View more on Marin Independent Journal