SOURCE: Whitney Still in Running for Sharks GM

According to a source, Ray Whitney is still in the running for San Jose Sharks GM.

About three weeks ago, Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports confirmed that the former Shark, now a member of the NHL Department of Player Safety, had interviewed for the position.

Since then, San Jose Hockey Now has learned that this was actually Whitney’s first-ever formal interview for an NHL GM position.

He must have done well if he’s still in the running. Pierre LeBrun reported today that “after lengthy interviews of 4-6 hours each with a dozen candidates, San Jose will cut the list of candidates down this upcoming week.”

SJHN can confirm that Ray Whitney was in that layer of a dozen candidates.

REPORT: Sharks GM Search About To Enter Next Stage

This might be surprising, considering Whitney’s relative lack of hockey operations experience. After Whitney’s 22-season playing career concluded in 2013-14, he scouted for the Carolina Hurricanes until 2018 before joining the league.

But make no mistake, Ray Whitney is well regarded around the league.

“He’s just a smart hockey guy,” a source told San Jose Hockey Now two weeks ago. “I like him. Down-to-earth.”

Whitney last played for the Sharks in Jan. 1997. Dean Lombardi was San Jose’s GM then, and since then, the Sharks have only had one other full-time GM, Doug Wilson.

Could the second Sharks draft pick – Whitney was San Jose’s second-round pick in the 1991 NHL Draft, following second-overall Pat Falloon – continue the Sharks’ track record of stability?