Ryan Warsofsky Unexpectedly Enters Jack Adams Conversation

On Tuesday, NHL.com released the first of their "Trophy Tracker" article series which focused on the Jack Adams Trophy, which is awarded to the league's top coach at the end of every season. Surprisingly, San Jose Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky's name was near the very top of the list.

As things currently stand, Warsofsky currently sits second in NHL.com's eyes, behind just Montreal Canadiens bench boss Martin St-Louis. This comes as a bit of a surprise, as Warsofsky is often criticized heavily by Sharks fans, but he's quickly gaining respect around the NHL

Warsofsky does deserve some credit, of course. He helped lead the Sharks to their first 2-0-0 start in half a decade against two very difficult opponents. With that being said, their third game against the Dallas Stars forced him to go deep into his bag of tricks with Macklin Celebrini being a late scratch, and it certainly didn't go well for his team. 

While no coach can be truly expected to succeed without their star player, Warsofsky's decision-making on Monday night was certainly controversial. While he didn't stay there long, Warsofsky started Ty Dellandrea on the Sharks' first line rather than initially promoting either Michael Misa or Alexander Wennberg. 

The Sharks face another important test on Thursday against the St. Louis Blues and once again, they could be without Macklin Celebrini. Now that Warsofsky has had a little more time to prepare without his star center, maybe he'll be able to show the world why NHL.com's writers think so highly of him.