SAN JOSE — Sharks icon Joe Thornton has a new, official title with the team he starred on for 15 seasons.

The Sharks announced on Tuesday that Thornton, who had his No. 19 retired by the team last year, is officially rejoining the organization as a player development coach and hockey operations advisor.

Thornton holds the same title as fellow team legend Patrick Marleau, who joined the Sharks front office in June 2023 after a 23-year NHL career in which he became the league’s all-time leader in games played with 1,779.

Thornton, 45, had unofficially been a part of the organization’s player development staff since his playing days ended following the 2021-22 season, and was on the ice with several of the team’s prospects at the recently concluded development camp. Now he’ll be working for the director of player development, Todd Marchant, and alongside former NHL players Mike Ricci, Tommy Wingels and Luca Sbisa.

The move was not unexpected, as Sharks general manager Mike Grier had previously hoped to bring Thornton aboard.

“He’s a tough man to pin down,” Grier said earlier this month. “He’s all over the place.”

Thornton was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame last month after he finished his 24-year NHL career with 1,539 points (430 goals, 1,109 assists) in 1,714 career games with the Boston Bruins, Sharks, Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers. He ranks 14th in points, seventh in assists and sixth in games played among all NHL players. He is one of only 14 skaters ever to eclipse the 1,000-assist mark and was just the seventh player in NHL history to skate in 1,500 games, collect 1,000 assists and score 400 goals.

The Sharks acquired Thornton in a trade with the Boston Bruins in Nov. 2005. He remained with the franchise until the end of the pandemic-interrupted 2019-2020 season.

The Sharks also announced that Owen Hixon is the new equipment manager assistant. This is Hixon’s first NHL job. He previously worked as the assistant equipment manager for Arizona State’s ice hockey program for four seasons.

Several others within the Sharks’ hockey operations department have new roles and titles.

Charlie Townsend, now in his 13th season with Sharks Sports & Entertainment, has been named the team’s director of hockey operations after spending the past two seasons, among other duties, as the director of hockey projects and analytics (2023-25).

Other roles include AJ Bernstein (hockey operations, strategy and data analyst); Dylan Finan (hockey operations, scouting coordinator); Jon Hull (head USA amateur scout); Tim LeRoy (assistant equipment manager); and Thomas Vanek (hockey operations advisor).

Bernstein had been a Sharks analyst for hockey projects and analytics, and Hull and Vanek had both previously worked as North American amateur scouts. LeRoy had been the head equipment manager for the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL.