San Jose Barracuda announced several coaching changes Wednesday morning, the most notable of which is that longtime head coach Roy Somer will move to the team’s senior consultant and that John McCarthy has been named his successor.

“John McCarthy is naturally suitable as the next head coach of San Jose Barracuda,” said San Jose Barracuda general manager Joe Will. in the issue. “His leadership skills and professionalism combined with hockey IQ have enabled him to succeed throughout his long and outstanding career at Sharks and Barracuda. These traits, which he has shown extensively in our player development staff over the past two years, will be a great asset for our developing players. ”

Perhaps the most famous player in Barracuda history, McCarthy spent 13 years San Jose Sharks organizations including the first five seasons after the AHL branch moved to San Jose before retiring in the middle of the 2019-2020 season due to health issues.

“It is a great honor for me to be appointed head coach of San Jose Barracuda,” McCarthy said. “I have been a member of this organization for 13 years and could not be happier than this opportunity. I would like to thank the organization for believing in me to lead this group and I am very excited to start working on developing the next wave of players for the Sharks. ”

Somer’s new role will be to work closely with Will on “various efforts to explore and develop players in the AHL”.

Barracuda has also announced additional changes behind the bench: assistant coach Jimmy Bono has been transferred to his previous position as a professional scout and two other coaches will leave the organization. Assistant coach Michael Chiason has taken on the role of agent at CAA Hockey alongside Pat Brisan, and goalkeeping coach Danny Saburin has left his post to be closer to his home in Quebec.

The only thing left of the coaching staff is a video trainer and a hockey operations manager. Nick Gladini, who remains in his current role.

“Barracuda” finished the 2021-22 season at the bottom of the Pacific Division with a score of 20-42-4-2, including a series of 15 defeats to close the season. After the struggle over the last few seasons, changes were needed. These steps will allow an influential voice like Sommer’s voice to stay in the organization, while giving Barracuda a somewhat new face behind the bench.

It couldn’t have come at a better time when an influx of young talent, such as Ozzy Wiesblatt, Thomas Bardella and Daniel Gushchin, arrived at the professional level just before the opening of TechCU Arena, Barracuda’s new arena at Sharks Ice in San Jose.