The San Jose Sharks and former NHL striker Mike Grier made league history Tuesday afternoon. (Getty)
The San Jose Sharks have named former NHL striker Mike Grier as the team’s next general manager.
Grier becomes the first black general manager in NHL history after San Jose made it official Tuesday afternoon with a special video message from the same man.
Grier, 47, played more than 1,000 games in 14 NHL seasons, with stays in Edmonton, Washington, Buffalo and San Jose, scoring 162 goals and scoring 221 assists. His time with the Sharks between 2006 and 2009 was an important part of San Jose’s decision-making process, according to NHL informant Kevin Weekes.
For the National Hockey League, this has been a long time coming:
After his career as a player, Grier has worked with various organizations in different roles. He joined the Chicago Blackhawks in 2014 and was a member of his scout team until 2018. After his departure from Chicago, he served as assistant coach with the New Jersey Devils from 2018 to 2020. Most recently, Grier he was part of the New York Rangers reception as a team hockey operations advisor.
Grier replaces Sharks interim CEO Joe Will, who has been at the helm of San Jose since early April after longtime GM Doug Wilson left office.
The first NHL general manager will have his hands on rebuilding a Sharks team that has been treading water in recent seasons. In addition to hiring a new technical team after the departure of Bob Boughner and his assistants, Grier will have to navigate the NHL draft later this week, with San Jose 11th overall and a group of relatively shallow prospects.
Last season, the Sharks finished with a meager 77 points (32-37-13) good for 6th place in the NHL Pacific Division. The team is affected by several major contracts with rigid non-movement clauses attached, including a $ 26.5 million set due to the team’s aging defensive trio of Erik Karlsson, Brent Burns and Marc- Edouard Vlasic.
San Jose has missed the playoffs in each of the last three seasons, far from their days as perennial contenders during the 2010s, which included an appearance in the 2016 Stanley Cup final.
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