The player's GM: How Wilson's Sharks legacy lives on

• Editor's Note: Sheng Peng will be a regular contributor to NBC Sports California’s Sharks coverage. You can read more of his coverage on San Jose Hockey Now, listen to him on the San Jose Hockey Now Podcast, and follow him on Twitter at @Sheng_Peng.

A “player’s coach” is a sports cliché.

However, you don’t often hear of someone who is a player’s general manager.

Being a GM can be a cold business, but Doug Wilson bucked that trend: He was a player’s GM.

Perhaps because of lessons that Wilson learned during his own Hall of Fame playing career -- the defenseman captained both the Chicago Blackhawks and the Sharks -- the San Jose GM’s players often felt like he had their backs, on and off the ice.

And it wasn’t just his players who felt that way about Wilson.

From the top of the Sharks organization -- did you hear Wilson speak up for owner Hasso Plattner during his appreciation night speech? -- to anywhere else, it wasn’t hard to find a member of the San Jose circle happy to talk about the family-like culture that Wilson fostered in his 19 years as GM, from 2003 to 2022.

And we haven’t even mentioned his on-the-ice success: From 2003-04 to 2018-19, Wilson’s Sharks made the NHL playoffs in all but one season, highlighted by a Stanley Cup Final in 2016 and Western Conference Finals appearances in 2004, 2010, 2011, and 2019.

Mike Grier, Ned Colletti, Tim Burke, Tom Holy, Peter DeBoer, Roy Sommer, Logan Couture, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Matt Nieto, James Reimer, Tomas Hertl, Dan Boyle, Tommy Wingels, and Dan Rusanowsky lent their voices to talk about what Wilson brought to the organization during his time as GM.

Let’s start with the players.

Mike Grier: He always created a little bit of a family environment here. As players, we all felt like we were in it together. He was always open, willing to talk to you, whether it was hockey-related stuff or family stuff. He made not only the players but our families feel welcome around the rink.

Tomas Hertl: When my family came, he always made sure to say hi and just talk to them.

Logan Couture: Doug wore a lot of hats. He was a mentor for me. His door was always open. I'd say less than half the time it was about hockey. I’d go in there and we’d talk, and it'd be long conversations, multiple hours. In the summer, we’d be on the phone for a few hours. He always wanted to know how guys were doing away from hockey.

Matt Nieto: I think it was my rookie year when my mom was sick, and he was always so nice to me about that. If the team had days off, he would let me go home to go visit her and see her, so he was always unbelievable to me and my family, and that’s something I'll always appreciate and remember.

Wilson liked to give James Kerr’s "Legacy" to people. In the book, Kerr explored what has made New Zealand rugby team All Blacks the most successful sports team in the world.

One lesson learned?

All Blacks captains were the last guys in the locker room, so they would clean up instead of the rookies.

In other words…

Tommy Wingels: He always had a book [that said] leaders sweep the floor, and it was just about creating a better environment for yourself and being a leader in ways that other people might not see. Every relationship to him mattered, whether it's to [cleaning specialist] Norma [Hernandez], whether it's to the trainers, whether it's to players who are in for development camp who might not come again, were just invites.

Peter DeBoer: He was a player's GM. He was a coach's GM. He was a scout's GM. The thing that I admired most about Doug was, at every position in that organization, he hired really good people. He let them do their job. He didn't micromanage. He provided support. He provided advice when you asked for it. He created a really great working environment. There's a reason Mike Aldrich is there for 20 years as an equipment manager, Ray Tufts in medical, Norma who works at the rink, Joe Will as assistant GM and just on and on. I loved Doug's management style and I appreciate it more every day after I see other places, for sure.

Roy Sommer: He didn't meddle in your job. He wasn't a micromanager. He let you do your job. That was one of his great qualities. He trusted when he hired that you were gonna get it done.

Tom Holy: Doug taught me an early lesson. He came to Cleveland [when I was working there with the Sharks’ AHL affiliate], I remember it was December. When he came, we had a potluck dinner where we all brought something that we made and we had the staff come together. My mom made chicken paprikash, which people mostly don't know, but it's my favorite meal of all time.

Doug came up to the potluck, tried the chicken paprikash, liked it so much that he then picked up the phone, took my phone and said, "Call your mother, I want to thank her." And then I called my mom. Doug took the phone and talked to her for five minutes: 'Mrs. Holy, this is the greatest meal and we love your son,' yada, yada, yada. And as a 22-year-old kid who was just learning, for a person of Doug Wilson's stature, who then went on to become a very successful GM, that was Doug making people feel special. And I learned that early on, that's probably the most important thing that you can do.

Make the person that's in the room with you feel more important than yourself. That's what Doug gave me.

Ned Colletti: He would continually keep me up to date on [long-time San Jose Sharks usher Rich Perez’s] health. And when Rich passed, Doug called me and was just heartbroken by the loss of Rich. And Rich wasn't the captain of the team, he wasn't a superstar player. He wasn't an executive, but he was somebody that Doug had huge, huge affection and respect for. That means a lot to me, those people who treat everybody with great respect and compassion are the people that I find to be the best at life.

Couture: I think Doug probably grew up like that, but I [also] think he got a little bit of that from Brian Kilrea, [our] junior coach, because Killer’s biggest thing was respect and respect everyone. It doesn't matter if it's your coach or the lady serving you at the restaurant.

Dan Rusanowsky: I remember when he first got traded to San Jose from Chicago, and from the very, very first time, he was a uniter, he was somebody that brought people together, whether it was on the ice or off the ice.

In what’s perceived as a cutthroat business, Wilson’s touch with people actually helped him be a better GM.

Tim Burke: He made a lot of big deals, and he was in on a lot of deals. He had a lot of rapport with all the other GMs. There's a lot of stuff going on, and not all the guys have that bedside manner to have people call them back and have relationships with people. It wasn't just all about deals, it was having relationships with people. But if there was another deal going on, you could find out about it.

A lot of things going on in this business that he was able to get a lot of information, a lot of different ways, just by his demeanor. A lot of people really liked him, trusted him. Sometimes, some GMs only get along with other GMs, and they make deals with certain teams, but he kept everybody in play. That's a hard thing to do for a GM.

Dan Boyle: I’ve heard of other teams, not necessarily my teams, where the GMs are really involved, always coming around, that type of stuff. He wasn't one of those guys, he would come around when needed. He wasn't [too] involved. He allowed his coach to do his job. He knew his place. When a GM shows up too many times, it can be unprofessional.

Burke: He had time for everybody. Didn't matter win, lose, or draw. He had time for people. The sun came out everyday. He had the right personality to get along with a lot of different people constantly. That's a very difficult skill. Even in uneasy times, you didn't feel uneasy around him.

Of course, the last three years out of the playoffs have been uneasy for the Sharks. But remember, for the 15 years before that, San Jose was a place that everyone in the NHL wanted to go to. Do you think, for example, that UFA John Tavares would’ve seriously considered San Jose in the summer of 2018 if it weren’t for the culture that was chiefly created by Wilson?

Marc-Edouard Vlasic: Throughout the years, a lot of guys [have wanted] to play here. We want to win here, and for at least 13 to15 years, we were competitive every year. We had a good team, so guys wanted to be here and wanted to sign [for] maybe a little less to maybe win. But even if it was less or more, I think he was very fair when it came to contracts.

Boyle: He was one of the reasons I came here. Before being on the phone with him, I was uncertain [about leaving Tampa Bay for San Jose]. After getting off the phone with him, I was sure I was coming.

Colletti: [There] was another half-dozen [NHL] organizations where I knew people in great leadership roles and had been great friends of mine for a long, long time. Most, if not all, had asked me the same question Doug did, if I would ever change sports and come to work with them. I chose San Jose because of Doug. Because of my trust and respect for him.

Vlasic: [Contract negotiations with Doug were] never insulting. You bring fair points on both sides. “Why do I deserve this?” “This is why, this is why, I do this, I do this better than anybody.” He comes with his points, and you work from there. It never was [about] trying to lowball you, it’s trying to make a fair deal to make the team better and be fair to the player.

James Reimer: All I have is my own [contract negotiations to talk about]. Just very understanding, no mind games, [no pointless haggling]. I feel like so much of the league and politics is all mind games. It’s a business and you’re in essence trying to manipulate people to get what you want, right? In the grand scheme, the way he dealt with me was always with respect and a common sense, level-headedness, and you reciprocate that.

So much of it is “Screw you, screw you” [in negotiations], but to him, it was just like “Be respectful, use your brain.” It’s not like he said that, but just the way he carried himself and the way he responded, the way he negotiated. He was just a really good person that cared for you as a player, and in return you gave him everything he had.

RELATED: Wilson recalls favorite Sharks moments during tenure as GM

Wilson’s legacy as San Jose Sharks GM lives on, in some probably not so surprising ways, if you’ve gotten this far in the story.

Sommer: He actually helped me get this job [with the San Diego Gulls]. San Diego came up and I asked if he knew Pat Verbeek well, and he said he'd put in a call in for me. I'm sure that's a big part in getting me hired here. He called Pat, and shoot, the next day, Pat was on the phone with me.

Grier: We've texted. We've talked back and forth a few times. He's been great and very supportive and happy for me as well. It's been nice for me and even somewhat comforting to know that he was supportive of my hiring. Says something about him, and it means a lot to me that he's been supportive of me.

Rusanowsky: When the Sharks win their first Stanley Cup, I think that we'll have to look back to people like George Gund, who started the franchise, and Doug Wilson, who helped build the franchise. I'd say that he's a Hall of Famer as a player, but he's also in my mind, a Hall of Famer as a builder, and had he been inducted as a builder it would have been totally appropriate.

He's somebody that will be a huge part of this team winning the Cup, even if it happens many years from now because of what he did to establish this franchise and make Sharks Territory what it is.