SAN JOSE >> Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson wasn’t privy to all the details about why David Quinn was fired as the Sharks head coach last April.

But the three-time Norris Trophy winner was among those who were a bit taken aback that Quinn was given only two years to lead the Sharks, given the team’s rebuilding state.

“We had one year together. It was his first year (in San Jose) and my last,” said Karlsson, who played with the Sharks from 2018 to 2023 before being traded to the Penguins. “The situation was a little bit complicated when you’re not expected to win a lot of games.

“What happened the second year, I’m not really sure. But I think everyone was a little bit surprised that he only had two years, with expectations being the way that they are. But it’s nothing that I know anything really about. I’ve only had good experiences with him.”

Quinn, now an assistant coach with Pittsburgh, was back at SAP Center on Monday as the Penguins played the Sharks. Quinn was hired by the Penguins on June 24, joining Mike Sullivan’s staff less than two months after being let go in San Jose, where he had a record of 41-98-25.

This news organization requested to speak with Quinn on Monday, but the Penguins do not let their assistant coaches talk on the record with media members.

“I knew he was going to make our staff a better staff,” Sullivan said of hiring Quinn, whom he’s known for nearly 40 years since their days together at Boston University. “He was going to make our team a better team, and that’s exactly what he’s done.”

Quinn was hired to work with the Penguins defensemen and coordinate the team’s power play. Before Monday’s game, Pittsburgh allowed 2.92 goals per game, tied for 17th in the NHL and slightly better than the 3.08 goals they allowed last season. The Pens’ power play was ranked sixth in the NHL before Monday at 26.9%, well ahead of the 15.3% it finished with last season.

Still, the Penguins, like the Sharks, are not in the spot they want to be.

While the Sharks came into Monday on a six-game losing streak and in last place in the NHL’s overall standings with 34 points, the Penguins entered the game in San Jose in 15th place in the Eastern Conference with 48 points, seven out of a playoff spot. Before facing the Sharks, the Penguins had won just two of their last eight games.

Now the Penguins have to deal with the absence of center Evgeni Malkin, who was placed on injured reserve before Monday’s game. Malkin, a future Hall of Famer, is fourth on the Penguins this season with 34 points.

“He’s an important player for us,” Sullivan said. “He’s not an easy guy to replace by any stretch.”

The Penguins, who have the 31st-oldest roster in the NHL, will probably have to start rebuilding in the coming years. But the rebuild was just getting underway when Quinn started coaching the Sharks.

In Quinn’s first year with the Sharks in 2022-23, Karlsson had a staggering 101 points as he became the first defenseman since Brian Leetch in 1991-92 to record over 100 points in a season. On June 27, 2023, Karlsson won the Norris Trophy for the third time in his career, and on Aug. 6, he was traded to the Penguins as part of a three-team deal that involved multiple players, including Mikael Granlund and Jan Rutta, and draft picks.

The trade made the struggling Sharks even worse, at least in the short term, as the team finished last season with the worst record in the league at 19-54-9, with the second-lowest scoring offense (2.20 goals per game) and the most porous defense (3.98 goals allowed per game).

Quinn paid the price, as six days after the Sharks’ season ended, he was let go by general manager Mike Grier, who said at the time that the team needed a new voice.

Asked if Quinn was upset at being let go by the Sharks, Sullivan said, “I can’t speak for him. I’m sure it’s disappointing. That’s the hard part of coaching, right? There are certain things that you can control. There are certain things that you can’t. I thought (Quinn) did a terrific job controlling what he could, and he understands that aspect of what we do.”

CROSBY ON CELEBRINI >> Penguins captain Sidney Crosby has been in Macklin Celebrini’s spot before and offered some advice to the budding Sharks star about being on a losing team to start your NHL career.

Crosby scored a remarkable 110 points as an 18-year-old rookie in 2005-06 after being selected first by the draft-lottery-winning Penguins. But Pittsburgh still finished 29th out of what was then a 30-team league with a 22-46-14 record.

“I think just enjoy it. Nobody likes losing, no matter if you’re in your first or 20th year,” Crosby said Monday. “This is the reason you play, to win games, and that’s what it’s about.

“But I think for him, understanding that process, and he’s a competitive guy, he wants to win every night. There’s nothing wrong with that. That’s how you have to be, but you’ve just got to enjoy it.”

Celebrini, 18, was among this year’s NHL’s rookie leaders with 35 points in 40 games before Monday.

“Really dynamic. (He) sees the ice well. Great shot. He does everything really well,” Crosby said of Celebrini. “You look at different guys; maybe their speed sticks out, or their shot, or their playmaking. I think he’s just really solid in every one of those areas. And I think just from watching briefly, I think he’s a guy that really takes a lot of pride in being a two-way guy, too.”