Positive Takeaways From David Quinn’s Tenure as Sharks Head Coach

It’s hard to place all the blame on Quinn, though, since he was given a roster that had zero chance of competing with the top teams in the league. While players like Mikael Granlund, Fabian Zetterlund and William Eklund are legitimate NHL-caliber players, there were also those like Justin Bailey and Ryan Carpenter who were expected to spend a majority of the season in the American Hockey League (AHL) when they joined the organization.

Half the players in the lineup on a nightly basis were fringe players who could be decent depth options at the NHL level but shouldn’t be in the lineup every game. This is backed up by Collin Graf being signed as an undrafted free agent and immediately jumping into the top-six forward group. If a player who has never played in the NHL can do that and instantly become one of the most impactful players on the team, it’s not a good sign for the quality around him. Injuries were an excuse for some of the season, as Logan Couture was out for a majority of the season and Tomas Hertl suffered a few injuries before being traded to the Vegas Golden Knights. 

Despite the fact that the blame didn’t fall solely on Quinn for how bad the Sharks were this season, there were certainly some things he could’ve done better. The fact that it took until the 12th game of the season to get the first win of the campaign would’ve been justification to move on from a coach, however, management decided at that point to keep him.

It seems like ancient history at this point, but it’s easy to forget that the final two games of that losing streak were the historic losses against the Vancouver Canucks and Pittsburgh Penguins in which the Sharks gave up 10 goals in back-to-back games. If there was ever a time to fire a coach, it would’ve been then, yet the Sharks continued to commit to him. The team had a few more embarrassing losses over the course of the season, but they never reached that level again. Ending the season with three straight losses likely sealed Quinn’s fate, but it did take Grier some time to make his decision. 

Players Who Improved Under Quinn

Let’s jump back to the 2022-23 season for a moment. So much has changed in the last 18 months, but when Quinn had his first game behind the Sharks bench, it marked the start of a great season for a few players. Erik Karlsson was supposed to take the Sharks to the next level when he was acquired from the Ottawa Senators prior to the start of the 2018-19 season, yet he seemed like a shell of his former self in his first four seasons in teal. Injuries undoubtedly contributed to that, however, even when healthy, he never played like a two-time Norris Trophy winner. Once Quinn came into the mix, though, things changed.

It’s hard to tell how much of this was due to the system changes, and quite a bit of it was undoubtedly the result of him being fully healthy for the first time since the trade, but Karlsson finally seemed like the future Hall of Fame defenseman that he had been with the Senators. After recording the best offensive season of his career, in which he put up 101 points in 82 games, the Swedish defenseman won the Norris for the third time in his career. Couture and Hertl’s steps forward were less dramatic, but they both had their best offensive production in quite a while and Alexander Barabanov had the best season of his career too.

Timo Meier had a slow start under the new coach, but he ended up with 52 points in 57 games before being traded to the New Jersey Devils ahead of the trade deadline. Considering the team was in the middle of a rebuild with an aging core, things seemed to be going as well as they could be despite the team being near the bottom of the standings

We’ve discussed the 2023-24 season on a team level, but on an individual level, the aforementioned Eklund and Zetterlund had very strong performances in their first full seasons in the NHL. Zetterlund’s 24 goals led the team, while Eklund’s defensive play took a massive step forward and he also developed more confidence in the offensive zone, scoring 16 goals and recording a total of 45 points in 80 games. Granlund took a massive step forward following a disappointing stint with the Pittsburgh Penguins to end the 2022-23 season, leading the Sharks with 60 points in 69 games.

Despite not getting as much game time as the others I’ve mentioned, Henry Thrun and Ty Emberson had strong rookie seasons on the blue line as well. Although the team struggled defensively, Emberson was one of the few bright spots in that regard and also chipped in offensively as well. Thrun had a slow start after being recalled from the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL, but he started playing pretty well by the time the season drew to a close. Although a lot of players played well under Quinn, there were a few who struggled as well. Specifically, in his second season behind the bench, Kevin Labanc and Barabanov played much worse than we had seen from them in the past. Mario Ferraro struggled a bit as well trying to fill the void left by Karlsson’s departure. For the most part, though, it seems like Quinn had a positive impact on a majority of the players he coached in San Jose.

Overall, Quinn’s impact on the Sharks likely won’t be fully seen for a few years. The young players he spent countless hours coaching and developing will eventually reach their potential and part of that will be thanks to their now-former coach. It was a move that Grier clearly didn’t want to make, however, after a historically difficult season, a move was necessary. Quinn won’t be remembered overly fondly in San Jose, simply because of how bad the team was when he was behind the bench, but his impact will be felt for many years to come.