Sheng Peng
The San Jose Sharks are down to three general manager candidates, a source tells San Jose Hockey Now.
This source expects the hire to have no NHL GM experience.
It’s also very possible that the hire will have little to no North American hockey management experience.
This aligns with a possibility that Elliotte Friedman raised on Sunday.
“I heard there was an international candidate,” Friedman said on his 32 Thoughts Podcast.
Friedman and his co-host Jeff Marek suggested SC Bern chief sports officer Raeto Raffainer, Rogle BK GM Chris Abbott, or Swedish Olympic head coach Johan Garpenlov as possible international San Jose Sharks GM candidates.
I also reached out to Florence Schelling, the first woman GM in men’s pro hockey. Schelling was SC Bern GM during the 2020-21 campaign.
Raffainer told SJHN that he has not interviewed for the San Jose GM role.
Abbott declined comment to SJHN, but a Swedish source stated that he “would be surprised” if the Sharks tabbed Abbott. Abbott has been Rogle BK GM since 2017, guiding them to the best record in the SHL this past season.
SJHN has reached out to Garpenlov for comment. However, the same Swedish source doesn’t see him in an NHL GM role just yet, observing that the former San Jose Sharks winger doesn’t have any club management experience at any level.
“I don’t think there’s anything to [the Garpenlov speculation],” another source told SJHN.
Garpenlov has been a part of building Team Sweden from 2010-12, and since 2016, but that’s different than the day-to-day grind of being a club GM.
Schelling told SJHN that she has not interviewed for Sharks GM.
So if not from this group, who could the international candidate be?
San Jose Sharks president Jonathan Becher has said that he, interim GM Joe Will, and owner Hasso Plattner hope to announce a new GM by the beginning of free agency on Jul. 13. It appears that we’re inching there.
SJHN has also heard that Plattner is very much involved in the search.