Mike Grier is happy with Ryan Warsofsky’s work.

Grier put his money where his mouth is, extending the San Jose Sharks head coach, entering the last year of his contract, to an extension.

Terms were not disclosed.

“Thank you to Hasso [Plattner] and Jonathan [Becher] and Mike for giving me the responsibility. They gave me my first crack in the National Hockey League,” Warsofsky said “Super excited, grateful, humbled by what they’ve done. It’s a great place to live. It’s a great organization. They treat people and families first-class.”

“Ryan’s done a good job. His staff’s done a good job,” Grier said on Thursday, the first day of training camp. “He’s someone who works hard. He’s put in the time. He has good relationships with the players.”

Warsofsky was promoted to San Jose Sharks head coach on Jun. 13, 2024, after serving two seasons as an assistant coach. And in his second year as bench boss, Warsofsky spearheaded a 34-point improvement in the standings.

That’s not just 2024 No. 1 pick Macklin Celebrini’s ascension to superstardom last year.

“He’s been able to get a lot out of different players,” Grier said. “Not just our top guys, but some of the guys in the middle and back of the line-up.”

That includes the development of less heralded prospects like Igor Chernyshov and Collin Graf and Zack Ostapchuk.

The next step for Warsofsky is to guide the San Jose Sharks to the playoffs for the first time since 2019.

“I’m excited to work with this group and push this group,” he said.

“His ability to connect with the group and push the group has been impressive. And he’s still learning on the job and growing,” Grier said. “From our standpoint, I think there’s still a lot of growth left for him. And I think every year, he’ll just keep becoming a better and better coach.”

Ryan Warsofsky, on how he can improve as a head coach:

Making sure we communicate the details and how we need to play, and being really clear with that, with my messaging and what have you.

Warsofsky, on Michael Misa’s first day of camp:

His pace was high. That’s what separates him is when he gets moving.

He’s starting to pick up some things away from the puck. The game will slow down for him. He had a really good second half, so we want to build off that.

Warsofsky, on how Celebrini gets better:

He’s obviously grown quite a bit. He’s a mature kid as it is. But you’ve seen him out here early. He was here in August, ready to go, and trying to get as many guys as he possibly could to come out early. I’ve seen that growth from him.

What’s important when I meet with him is he knows how…we need to keep the puck out of our net. I think that’s a big growth for me.

He’s going to continue to get better in certain areas. One will be the power play. That’s something that I know he wants to be better at and help be more of a threat as a five-man unit as well, and helping his teammates and having some poise on it.

Warsofsky, on the key to a better San Jose Sharks power play:

Sometimes, you just need a little patience on it…I thought we got a little excited when we got on there, and that sometimes happens with young players. Your whole life, you grow up and you get a power play, that’s where your skill comes out, and you can make teams pay. In this league, you got to have a little bit of patience.

There’s some good players on penalty kills. There’s big defensemen with good sticks. There’s good, smart forwards that have made a living playing on the penalty kill. And sometimes, you just got to have a little bit of patience to calm it down a little bit. That’s something that we’ll really preach here early on.

Warsofsky, on how Will Smith gets better:

I think he can drive offense more. He can be a real threat off the entry. I think he can be a guy that we can hopefully trust late in games and play a really good defensive style of game.

He looks stronger. He looks quicker. He looks like he’s in great shape. He put in a lot of work. I met with him through the summer, the first thing I saw when we met is he looks stronger. And that was in July. So he’s definitely worked hard this summer.

Warsofsky, on what Mason Marchment adds next to Celebrini and Smith on the first day of camp:

Create space. He’s played with high-end players before.

I wouldn’t look too much into it. Things will change as we go through camp.

Warsofsky, on the potential impact of new defensemen Darnell Nurse, Jacob Trouba, and Michael Kesselring:

Yeah, I saw that firsthand today in that scrimmage with Kesselring and Nurse. They can move pucks. They got poise. They’re big. They’re long. Their puck play is going to really help us, as will Troubs.

I watched a lot of video of him. I don’t think he gets enough credit for how much he can handle the puck and make plays.

Warsofsky, on Sam Dickinson’s improvement:

Put some work in. He’s in good shape. He’s a little bit stronger, a little bit quicker. His skating looks really good. But yeah, it’s a big year for Sam to take another step.