As the Ottawa Senators consider their long list of coaching candidates, would they add David Quinn, who was fired today by the San Jose Sharks?
As the last place San Jose Sharks send their rebuild into overdrive, they've decided to fire head coach David Quinn. The Sharks had an overall 41-98-25 record in Quinn's two seasons in San Jose, the worst in the NHL during that window.
Quinn was once a hot NHL coaching prospect, following a successful career at Boston University. He was head coach for five seasons after taking over from the legendary Jack Parker, who had just ended a 40-year-run as Terriers coach. Quinn played for Parker in the 80s and was his associate coach from 2005-09.
In Quinn's final season at Boston U, he had a freshman winger named Brady Tkachuk, and the two of them left for the NHL around the same time in 2018. Quinn was hired in May that year as head coach for the Rangers, while Tkachuk was drafted 4th overall by Ottawa a month later.
While Quinn was set up for disaster with a bad team in San Jose, people forget that he wasn't exactly set up for success in New York either. Nearing the trade deadline in 2018, a couple of months before Quinn was hired, Rangers GM Jeff Gorton put out a letter to their fans, publicly announcing that they were giving up on attempting to make the playoffs and starting a youth rebuild.
The Rangers hired Quinn specifically because he'd been so good with young players at Boston. Quinn lasted three seasons in New York, posting an overall .522 points percentage.
In a club statement, Sharks' GM Mike Grier spoke glowingly of Quinn on Wednesday.
“David is a good coach and an even better person. I would like to personally thank him for his hard work over these past two seasons. He and his staff did an admirable job under some difficult circumstances, and I sincerely appreciate how they handled the situation.”
During Quinn's two seasons in San Jose, Grier dealt away Erik Karlsson, Brent Burns, Tomas Hertl and Timo Meier.
With San Jose now jumping into the available coaching market, it will be interesting now to see if the Senators add their captain's old coach to their list of candidates.