Boughner out as Sharks head coach as ‘reset’ continues

The San Jose Sharks aren’t just looking for a new GM; they also need a new head coach. The Sharks fired head coach Bob Boughner as part of sweeping changes to its coaching staff.

Along with Boughner, the Sharks fired assistants John Madden and John MacLean, while also firing video coach Dan Darrow.

Interim Sharks GM Joe Will explained that the team wanted to give their next GM “full autonomy” when it comes to their coaching staff.

“As we progress through our search for the next general manager of the Sharks following 19 seasons under Doug Wilson’s leadership, it has become apparent that the organization is in the process of an evolution,” Will said in the team’s release. “The bottom line is we have missed the playoffs for the past three seasons, which isn’t acceptable to our owner, our organization, or to our fans. As part of this evolution and evaluation, we felt it was in the best interest of the club to allow the next Sharks general manager to have full autonomy related to the make-up of the on-ice coaching staff moving ahead.

One interesting additional line from Will was:

” … This change is not an indictment of their performance as much as it is a recognition of the complete organizational reset …”

It’s fair to wonder about Bob Boughner’s coaching future, though. After failing to make the playoffs during a two-season run with the Panthers, he also never coached a playoff game with an expensive Sharks team.

How much of the Sharks’ failures were really Boughner’s fault? That’s a difficult question to answer. But it’s easy to say that the team performed poorly during his run.

How primed, really, are the Sharks for a true “complete organizational reset,” though?

Instead of making the sober (if painful) decision to trade