Joe Will begins his ninth season as general manager of the Sharks’ American Hockey League affiliate (Worcester Sharks and San Jose Barracuda). In 2021-22, he served as the Sharks interim general manager after Doug Wilson stepped aside following health complications.

Will works closely with general manager Mike Grier and assistant general manager Tom Holy on all daily departmental functions and his primary responsibilities include contract research and negotiations, scouting operations, fiscal planning, salary cap analysis and hockey administration. He’s the lead coordinator and planner for the Sharks training camp scouting meetings and scouting conference calls each season.

Will oversees all the hockey operations for the Sharks American Hockey League affiliate, including player evaluation, player contracts, and player recall and reassignments.

In an effort to strengthen the organization’s player development system and program, the Sharks relocated their American Hockey League affiliate to San Jose for the 2015-16 season. The Barracuda became a part of the AHL’s new Pacific Division, sharing SAP Center with their NHL parent club. The move west eliminated the need to fly players across the United States in the event of recalls and reassignments and added valuable practice time. It also has allowed for greater interaction and observation from San Jose’s development coaches.

One of his most important duties involves the tracking, analyzing and projecting of the team’s player payroll relative to the current and future National Hockey League salary cap to give the team the financial flexibility to ice a championship-caliber team each season.

Will, 58, also works with the organization’s professional scouts and management team in player research for expansion, waivers, free agency and trades. His expert analysis of economic trends in the NHL has led to the Sharks acquisition and retention of several key veteran players over his time with the club.

Prior to his current role, Will served as the team’s director of hockey operations from 2004-2011 and assistant general manager of the Sharks from 2011-2022. A member of the Sharks organization since the franchise’s inception in July 1990, he has also previously served as assistant to the general manager and scouting coordinator.

The Bloomington, Minn. native also works with director of scouting Tim Burke in the development and implementation of draft prospect testing, draft table operations and computer scouting analysis. Will is an integral part of the team’s draft-day strategy. Without his coordinating efforts, the team would not have drafted 2001 Calder Memorial Trophy winner Evgeni Nabokov in 1994. In addition, he developed the Sharks computer scouting program that pioneered the advent of scouting programs now used throughout the NHL.

Prior to joining San Jose, Will spent six years in the Minnesota North Stars organization in various capacities.

On May 18, 2022, McCarthy was named the second head coach in franchise history after serving as a development coach for the past two seasons.

On Dec. 27, 2019, McCarthy made his coaching debut with the Barracuda as an assistant against the Stockton Heat after announcing his retirement from pro hockey earlier in the day. On Dec. 10, McCarthy suffered an Ischemic stroke due to a previously undetected hole in his heart. Following swift medical attention from the team’s medical staff and the physicians at Kaiser Permanente, McCarthy was stabilized and has made a complete recovery.

McCarthy, who was selected by the Sharks in the seventh round of the 2006 NHL Draft, holds all major Barracuda franchise records including games played (275), goals (62), assists (76), points (138), and shorthanded goals (5). He served as Barracuda team captain from 2016-20 and also served as team captain for the Worcester Sharks for the 2012-13 season.

In 577 career AHL games with Worcester, Chicago, and San Jose, he has collected 297 points (130 goals, 167 assists), 233 penalty minutes and a plus-62 rating. He also posted 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in 27 playoff games with the Barracuda over a four-year stretch before his retirement.

In addition, McCarthy skated in 88 NHL games with the Sharks between 2009-2016, accumulating six points (three goals, three assists) and 22 penalty minutes.

In total, McCarthy appeared in 640 regular season games with San Jose’s NHL and AHL franchises. In 2018, McCarthy was selected to the United States Men’s Olympic Ice Hockey Team, appearing in five games at the Pyeongchang Olympics.

Prior to his professional career, McCarthy spent four seasons at Boston University where he won a 2009 National Championship as one of the team’s co-captains.

Mike Murphy begins his fourth season as the Head Equipment Manager of the San Jose Barracuda after serving as the team’s Assistant Equipment Manager in 2016- 17. Prior to joining the Barracuda, Murphy spent one season as the head equipment manager for the Macon Mayhem of the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL). Murphy has a degree in Sports Management from the University of New England and a Master’s Degree in Sports Administration from Canisius College.

While at Canisius (NCAA DI), Murphy was the hockey teams head equipment manager for a pair of seasons (2014-16) in a graduate assistantship role. In 2015-16, Mike also worked for the Buffalo Beauts of the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL) during the league’s inaugural season.

Prior to his time at Canisius, Murphy spent one season at American International College (NCAA DI) as the hockey teams head equipment manager after earning his undergrad from the University of New England where he began his career while in school.

The next three years were spent on Active Duty with the US Air Force. During this time, he was appointed as a clinical professor in surgery at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. Additionally, he obtained his MBA in Health Care Administration from Touro University.

After his honorable discharge, he spent an additional year in a Sports Medicine fellowship at Sports Orthopedic and Rehabilitation (SOAR) where he worked with world-class athletes including those on the San Francisco 49ers and San Francisco Giants. Dr. Abene currently cares for athletes at San Jose State University.  Dr. Abene also worked with the San Jose Ballet and is the medical advisor for the Jr. Sharks youth hockey program. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the American Orthopaedic Society of Sports Medicine. Dr. Abene is currently an orthopaedic surgeon at Kaiser Permanente San Jose.

Dr. Yu is a board certified emergency physician at Kaiser-Permanente.  He earned bachelors and masters degrees from Stanford University, where he graduated with honors, as well as medical and graduate business degrees from Columbia University in 2001.

After residency training at New York-Presbyterian, the University Hospitals of Columbia and Cornell, Dr. Yu served as Clinical Instructor of Emergency Medicine at Weill-Cornell Medical Center, a New York City Level 1 trauma center.  He also worked part-time in rural, suburban, Veterans Affairs, and telemedicine settings.

His sports involvement over the years has spanned track and field, volleyball, skiing, golf, and ice hockey.

Dr. Yu currently practices at the Kaiser Santa Clara Emergency Department, Kaiser Mountain View Minor Injury Clinic, and Kaiser Northern California Appointments and Advice Call Center.  He is an Adjunct Clinical Instructor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine, teaching resident physicians from the Stanford/Kaiser Emergency Medicine Residency Program.