The San Jose Sharks filled out their coaching and scouting staff with five hires announced Friday, including two former All-Stars who played with general manager Mike Grier.
Former Vezina Trophy winner Ryan Miller will come to San Jose to scout amateur goalies and help develop the organization’s netminders, while Thomas Vanek will be assigned to the Minnesota area as a pre-draft scout.
Both ex-players were teammates of Grier in Buffalo for three seasons. Miller played 18 NHL seasons — 11 for the Sabres — and is Buffalo’s all-time leader in goalie wins (284). Vanek played 14 seasons and tallied 789 points over 1,029 games.
Vanek, 39, has been an assistant high school coach since retiring in 2019. The Sharks did not list any post-career work by the 43-year-old Miller in their release, but he was initially slated to be an assistant coach on the U.S. Olympic team in 2022 before the NHL decided not to send its players. That team was coached by current Sharks head coach David Quinn.
The Sharks also hired Jack Anderson as their assistant strength and conditioning coach, as well as new amateur scouts Jaren Burke and Igor Eronko. Burke will be assigned to Ontario while Eronko will work in Russia.
Anderson most recently worked at P3, a private hockey training company, while Burke was a scout for the Maple Leafs and Eronko has been the assistant general manager for Avangard Omsk of the KHL over the last three seasons.