What’s Clowe Doing for Sharks?

Mike Grier and Ryane Clowe have a long history.

On Jul. 3, the San Jose Sharks announced Clowe would be coming on board as assistant general manager, joining Joe Will and Tom Holy at that post.

Sharks GM Grier explained on Saturday, “Clowe is really a sharp guy. We kept in touch over the years.”

From 2006 to 2009, Grier and Clowe were teammates on the San Jose Sharks. Clowe, a 2001 San Jose sixth-round pick, was a fan favorite power forward, good for 20 goals and 100 PIMs a year in his prime.

In 2014-15, Clowe, now with the New Jersey Devils, had to retire early because of concussions.

“He’s had some really good experiences from when he finished playing in Jersey, Lou Lamoriello let him spend a lot of time with him. Learn things from Lou,” Grier said.

Clowe was a Devils assistant coach from 2016 to 2018, under head coach John Hynes. Then, he went to the Toronto Maple Leafs organization — Kyle Dubas was the GM and Sheldon Keefe was the head coach of the Toronto Marlies — to become head coach of their ECHL affiliate Newfoundland Growlers.

Clowe, still not fully recovered from his concussions, couldn’t finish the 2018-19 season.

After a couple years off though, Clowe joined the New York Rangers organization as a hockey operations advisor in 2021-22. There, under GM Chris Drury, he was reunited with another hockey operations advisor…Grier.

Grier was named GM of the San Jose Sharks in the summer of 2022.

“He’s a really bright guy, sees the game, can break down the game really, really well. So it’s another different perspective for me and our staff to have,” Grier said of Clowe. “He’s a great person as well. We’re trying to get as many good people in here and good hockey people in here as possible.”

Grier also distinguished Clowe’s job as assistant GM from Holy and Will’s.

Holy is more involved in salary cap management and Will is the San Jose Barracuda GM.

Clowe?

“He’ll probably be more involved in the day-to-day hockey stuff. Not to say that Joe and Tom aren’t,” Grier said. “He’s got a good eye. Good eye for talent. He’s got some really good ideas and thoughts about player development, in scouting and things like that.”