San Jose Sharks
Sharks Add CapFriendly Founder, Analytics Coordinator & 3 More to Organization
Instead of cuts, the San Jose Sharks’ first announcement today is additions.
They’ve added or promoted six people:
Dominik Zrim; Director of Salary Cap Management/CBA Compliance
A.J. Bernstein; Coordinator, Hockey Analytics
Martin Uhnak; European Scout, Czechia, Slovakia, Germany, Switzerland
Cody Ward; Assistant Video Coach
Brian Ganz; Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach
They’ve also promoted Stephen DiLustro to director of strength and conditioning. He previously spent four seasons under Mike Potenza, who’s now with the Golden State Warriors.
A league source told San Jose Hockey Now that Zrim was “an unbelievable hire.”
In 2015, Zrim founded CapFriendly. During the 2021-22 season, he worked for the Chicago Blackhawks as the team’s manager of hockey strategy, assisting the team with cap, contracts, and formulating strategy.
Dominik Zrim was the cofounder of @CapFriendly. He was hired by the Blackhawks last summer, but per @FriedgeHNIC, resigned after Rocky Wirtz’s bizarre outburst at a team town hall in February. A pretty solid addition to the Sharks organization.
— Curtis Pashelka (@CurtisPashelka) October 1, 2022
Elliotte Friedman reported in June that Zrim was consulting for a few teams. One of those teams was the Canucks, helping former agent Émilie Castonguay in her new role as an assistant GM, per a league source. https://t.co/w04VwiAQ4X
— Corey Masisak (@cmasisak22) October 1, 2022
Per the San Jose Sharks, Bernstein will “be primarily tasked with acquiring, analyzing and refining the team’s analytics data.”
He was an assistant coach and director of hockey operations at Middlebury College until 2021, and he has also led analytics for the Chicago Steel (USHL) and Metropolitan Riveters (NWHL).
Uhnak will mostly scout the Czech, Slovakian, German and Swiss leagues for the Sharks. Uhnak has spent three seasons as the GM for Philosophers Nitra of the European University Hockey League. He also played 13 seasons of pro Slovakian hockey and another three seasons in the Federal Hockey League.
In a clear connection to the San Jose Sharks, Ward was the video coach for the 2021-22 Chicago Wolves. New Sharks assistant coach Ryan Warsofsky, of course, was the bench boss of the Calder Cup-winning side.
“Head down and works hard. Gets it. Did a great job for us,” Wolves GM Wendell Young texted SJHN. “He deserved the promotion to San Jose. Pushed for him to be hired.”
Ganz returns to the San Jose Sharks after being the San Jose Barracuda’s strength and conditioning coordinator in 2015-16. He previously worked for Potenza with the Sharks from 2012-14.
