from Curtis Pashelka of the Mercury News,

The Sharks’ search for a permanent general manager remains in the nascent stages as the team, as of late this week, still had not talked to any potential candidates.

That could change in the near future. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun said the Sharks have whittled down their initial list of 50 names to about 25, and could begin to speak with “five or six” potential candidates over the phone within the next week.

The Sharks have said they are looking for an external replacement for Doug Wilson, who stepped down as the team’s general manager on April 7.

Individuals such as Arizona Coyotes assistant GM John Ferguson and longtime NHL goalie Kevin Weekes, now an analyst for ESPN and the NHL Network, have been mentioned as possible candidates.

Right now, though, any names being bandied about are merely speculative, similar to someone random throwing darts at a dartboard. They might hit the bullseye, but luck would be involved.

continued