SAN JOSE – San Jose Sharks general manager Mike Grier said while Ryan Warsofsky has room to improve, he anticipates bringing the 38-year-old coach back for at least the beginning of next season.

“He’s done a good job,” Grier said of Warsofsky. “I would say there’s no reason to think that he won’t be the coach here when the season starts next year, and we’ll kind of take it from there.”

The Sharks (39-35-8) finished with 86 points this past season for a .524 points percentage, their best since a .616 mark in 2018-19, the last year the team made the playoffs.

Behind the efforts of leading scorer Macklin Celebrini, the Sharks had the biggest year-over-year improvement of any NHL team this season, going from 52 points and a last-place finish in the NHL standings in 2024-25 to 24th overall this year, as San Jose fell just short of making the postseason.

“I think everyone’s got to improve,” Grier said when asked where Warsofsky can get better. “I can improve, the players, coaches. It’s all about growing and evolving. I’m sure there are things he wants to be better at next year, but that’s probably more of a conversation for him and I to have.

“But he is a really good young coach in this league, and he’s learning the league and learning how to coach at the highest level. He’s done a good job.”

Grier credited Warsofsky for helping to get the Sharks’ season back on track after at least three extended slumps.

The Sharks went 0-4-2 to start the season in October before going on an 8-2-1 run. They also lost their last four games before the Olympic break, but came out of the break winning five of nine.

The Sharks’ playoff hopes appeared doomed after a 0-5-1 stretch from mid-to-late March. But they then won four straight and were in a playoff position on April 2 before they lost five of their last eight games.

“Everyone kept saying, we’re down and out. and it looked that way, even watching from above, that maybe these guys are running out of steam,” Grier said. “But then the next thing you know, they put a couple of wins together, and they battle back. So, it’s a credit to (Warsofsky) and to the players with how resilient they were throughout the year.”

Warsofsky is entering the final year of his three-year deal, signed when he was named the 11th head coach in Sharks history in June 2024. Warsofsky was an assistant coach with the Sharks from 2022 to 2024 before he replaced David Quinn, who was fired after compiling a 41-98-25 record in two seasons in San Jose.

Warsofsky, the youngest head coach in the NHL, went 20-50-12 in his first season with the still-rebuilding Sharks, but grew more comfortable this past year as the team remained alive for a playoff until the final week of the regular season. The Sharks finished four points behind the Los Angeles Kings for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.

The Sharks improved from 32nd in the NHL in scoring in 2024-25, averaging 2.54 goals per game, to 17th this year (3.04). But San Jose’s main issue continued to be goals allowed, with only a slight improvement from a league-high 3.76 goals against per game last season to a 30th-best 3.54 average of 2025-26.

The Sharks, not coincidentally, also ranked 16th on the power play at 21.2%, and 26th on the penalty kill (76.4%).

“We’ve got to keep the puck out of our net, that’s for sure,” Warsofsky said, calling it the first thing he’ll review this offseason. “We’ll look back and look at all the goals against, whether that’s penalty kill, shorthanded goals, any situation. We’ll look at it, and we’ll make some changes that need to be made, but that’ll be step number one, is keeping the puck out of our net.”

Given the volatility of the coaching position in the NHL, Warsofsky, remarkably, is already the 17th-longest tenured coach in the league. The average tenure of an NHL coach right now is just under 2 1/2 years.

Asked if he would be comfortable going into the final year of his contract without a new deal, Warsofsky said he wanted to keep those conversations with Grier private, but added that he wants to stay in San Jose long-term.

“I love this organization. I love this area. My family loves it here,” said Warsofsky, adding that he wants to be the coach that gets the Sharks back into the playoffs.

“I can tell you that I can see the passion. I can see how badly people want it. To hopefully deliver that would be a dream come true for myself.”

Warsofsky said his group of assistants — Jeff Ulmer, Brian Wiseman, Doug Houda, goalie coach Thomas Speer and video coach Nick Gialdini — all want to be back with the team next season.

Asked about Warsofsky’s staff, Grier said, “I think those guys did a good job. This time of year. I know (the media has) to ask the questions, but they did a good job. For us, it’s kind of the beginning of the evaluation season for coaches, players, staff, and everyone. But I think they did a good job.”