San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) General Manager Mike Grier announced today that Sharks Director of Hockey Operations Charlie Townsend has been promoted to also serve as Assistant General Manager of the San Jose Barracuda.
In addition to his current role, Townsend will work closely with Barracuda General Manager Joe Will on all aspects related to hockey operations of the Sharks American Hockey League affiliate club, including player evaluation, player contracts, and player recall and reassignments.
“Charlie has been a valuable resource for myself and our staff over the past several seasons,” said Grier. “His knowledge of analytics, hockey strategy and systems is extremely unique. He is diligent in the work he produces and has a great ability to connect personally with people.”
Townsend is entering his 14th season with Sharks Sports & Entertainment, which has included roles with the Sharks, Barracuda and the Worcester Sharks of the AHL.
As the Sharks Director of Hockey Operations, Townsend oversees the high-level strategy components of the Sharks hockey department through acquiring, developing and integrating multiple data information streams into the organization’s decision-making process These different domains included player evaluation, player acquisition, salary cap management and coaching.
Previously, he worked in numerous capacities throughout the Sharks hockey operations department including roles within scouting, coaching, player development and analytics at both the NHL and AHL level.
Townsend, a native of Watertown, CT, joined the Sharks organization after a brief professional playing career in both North America and Europe. He is a 2006 graduate of The Taft School and 2010 graduate of Middlebury College where he was an assistant captain for the 2010 NESCAC championship team and was a member of the NESCAC All-Sportsmanship Team.
