Report: Sharks set to hire DeBoer as coach
Peter DeBoer could be the new coach of the San Jose Sharks this week. (USATSI)
The San Jose Sharks appear to be closing in on a new coach, and according to Pierre LeBrun of ESPN.com it is going to be former New Jersey Devils coach Peter DeBoer.
The Sharks are one of the teams that was in the market for a new coach after mutually agreeing to part ways with Todd McLellan, their coach for the past seven seasons. McLellan has since been hired as the new coach of the Edmonton Oilers.
DeBoer has six-and-a-half years of head coaching experience in the NHL with the Florida Panthers and Devils. During that time his teams have compiled a 217-200-77 record and qualified for the playoffs just one time. DeBoer’s only postseason appearance came with the Devils during the 2011-12 season when the team reached the Stanley Cup Final, losing to the Los Angeles Kings in six games.
He was fired by the Devils after 36 games this season.
The Sharks are coming off of a disappointing 2014-15 season that saw the team finish in 12th place in the Western Conference, missing the playoffs for the first time since the 2002-03 season and just the second time since 1997.
DeBoer’s teams in New Jersey were always pretty strong defensively but were consistently near the bottom of the NHL in scoring with the exception of the ’11-12 campaign when the team had Zach Parise and Ilya Kovalchuk on the roster. At least some those struggles in recent years were due to the declining lack of talent on the NHL roster (Parise left for the Minnesota Wild as a free agent following the 2011-12 season, while Kovalchuk retired from the league to return to Russia to play in the KHL following the 2012-13 season), as well as a group of aging forwards that were well past their NHL prime.
With the Sharks seemingly closing in on DeBoer, the remaining coaching vacancies in the NHL would be in Buffalo, Detroit and New Jersey. The Sabres are reportedly meeting with former Pittsburgh Penguins coach Dan Bylsma on Wednesday.
Along with DeBoer, the Sharks have also been linked to former Anaheim Ducks and Toronto Maple Leafs coach Randy Carlyle as well as former Washington Capitals coach Adam Oates.
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