At just 36, this former Marshfield Ram is now an NHL head coach
The Patriot Ledger Eric McHugh
The 36-year-old, who spent two seasons as a Sharks assistant, played at Marshfield High and Curry College and also coached at Curry.
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The Patriot Ledger
Marshfield native Ryan Warsofsky has been been named head coach of the NHL's San Jose Sharks.

The former Patriot Ledger All-Scholastic (at Marshfield High before transferring to Cushing Academy) replaces David Quinn. Warsofsky was an assistant coach under Quinn for the last two seasons, focusing on defensemen and the penalty kill.

"I'm overwhelmed with gratitude and excitement to be named as the head coach of the San Jose Sharks," Warsofsky told the media in San Jose. "This is a tremendous opportunity to continue to be part of a well-respected organization, and my family and I couldn't be more excited for this next chapter. I want to thank our owner, Hasso Plattner; president, Jonathan Becher; general manager, Mike Grier; and assistant GMs Tom Holy and Joe Will for their trust in me. This is an organization that has a rich history of winning, and I can't wait to get to work on coaching a team that our fans can be proud of."

The Sharks fired Quinn on April 24 after a fifth straight non-playoff season. San Jose, which finished a league-worst 19-54-9, owns the first overall pick in the upcoming NHL draft. They are expected to select Boston University star center Macklin Celebrini, who this season became the youngest-ever winner of the Hobey Baker Award as college hockey's best player. Celebrini had 32 goals and 32 assists in 38 games for BU as a freshman.

Warsofsky, who is the older brother of former Boston Bruin David Warsofsky, was a Team USA assistant at the 2023 IIHF World Championship, helping the Americans finish fourth. He hooked on with the Sharks after two seasons coaching Chicago of the American Hockey League, including a league-best 50-16-5-5 record in 2021-22 en route to winning the 2022 Calder Cup. Overall, he was 105-47-11-7 as an AHL coach with Chicago and Charlotte.

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"We're very excited to announce Ryan as the 11th head coach of the San Jose Sharks," Grier told the media in San Jose. "His track record of success at nearly every level of hockey as a head and assistant coach speaks for itself. Ryan knows our existing group well, has the respect of the players who he will be working with, and will be a great teacher for the young players who will be joining our organization."

Warsofsky was a defenseman at Sacred Heart University (Fairfield, Connecticut) and Curry College in Milton. At the latter stop he led the Colonels in scoring (9 goals, 27 points in 27 games) in his first full season (2010-11) after transferring.

After a 2011-12 season spent playing professionally (most of it in the Netherlands), he joined the Curry staff as an assistant to T.J. Manastersky in 2012-13. He then moved on to the East Coast Hockey League's South Carolina Stingrays as an assistant in 2013-14. After three seasons there under Spencer Carbery – including the 2014-15 campaign in which the Stingrays won 23 straight games – Warsofsky became head coach and director of hockey operations in 2016-17 at age 28.

In an interview with The Patriot Ledger in 2020, he said the move from assistant to head coach was significant, because “when you’re an assistant coach, you kind of make suggestions, but you’re not making the final decision. When you’re the head coach, all eyes are on you.”

On Wednesday, Quinn was named an assistant to Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan, another Marshfield product. Sullivan's parents, George and Myrna, are Warsofsky's godparents. In a 2020 interview published on the Chicago Wolves' website, Warsofsky detailed his relationship with Sullivan while growing up.

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"He was right next door when I was real young," Warsofsky said. "His parents were my godparents. (Mike and I) still talk quite a bit throughout the season and the offseason. And then we see each other. He lives in the town right next to my parents.

“Growing up, I used to go to his hockey school. He was playing in the NHL back then. He had just left Boston University and started his pro career, so my family and I followed him around. He’s just someone that I’ve always looked up to."

Warsofsky told The Patriot Ledger in 2015 that being close to Sullivan sparked his interest in coaching. Sullivan was behind the Bruins' bench from 2003-04 to 2005-06 and essentially gave Warsofsky a backstage pass to life in the NHL.

"I’d hang out during morning skates, sit in on the meetings, and I really got into it," Warsofsky said. "I knew, after I was done playing, that was what I wanted to do."