The Ducks have locked in the people steering their AHL operation in San Diego, naming Dave Manson as head coach and keeping the bench intact with Kelly Buchberger and Steve McCarthy as assistants.
Manson spent last season as an assistant with the Gulls, his first year in the organization after a season coaching in the WHL. He brings more than 20 years of coaching experience to the job, but this will be his first time running the bench. Buchberger has worked as an assistant in both the NHL and AHL, while McCarthy most recently served as an assistant with Columbus before that club overhauled its coaching staff in January.
San Diego’s front office is staying in place too. The Ducks announced a multi-year extension for Gulls GM Rick Paterson, though no financial or term details were released.
Paterson has been in different roles with Anaheim since 2005 and has led the Gulls for the past two years. His front-office career goes back to 1999, when he was with Tampa Bay.
In Vancouver, Cammi Granato is shifting roles. The Canucks said she is moving out of her Assistant GM position and into a Senior Amateur Advisor role.
Granato spent the last five years as an AGM in Vancouver after earlier working in Seattle’s pro scouting department. Postmedia’s Patrick Johnston noted that Vancouver’s pro scouting department, where Granato had also worked, is now down to just two people, a sign that more hires could be on the way there.
And Matvei Petrov is heading back to Russia after being non-tendered by Edmonton last month. The KHL said the 23-year-old forward has signed a tryout deal with Spartak. Petrov, a sixth-round pick by the Oilers in 2021, spent the past three seasons with AHL Bakersfield and put up 23 goals and 19 assists in 141 games, not enough to earn a qualifying offer.
In Other News...
Ducks Prospect Crunch Just Created Another Tough Reality Check
The Ducks prospect pipeline is still drawing attention, but the reality around it is getting harder to ignore. Anaheim does not have much room for farmhands right now, and the names at the front of the line are familiar ones: Tristan Luneau and Stian Solberg are the closest to NHL readiness, while Roger McQueen sits among the organizations most important young talents. For a team trying to balance development with a roster that already has several young pieces in place, every step forward by a prospect only sharpens the squeeze.
Ryan Sheas situation elsewhere in the league is another reminder of how quickly teams are choosing cost and timing over longer-term commitments. The Ducks are facing their own version of that same roster math, with the front office and development staff having to decide who can actually fit into the next wave and who may be waiting longer than expected. For Anaheim, the issue is not just finding good prospects. It is finding room for them. [Read more 🡒]
Ducks Fans Just Got A Surprising Maxim Masse Update
Maxim Masse has been one of the more intriguing long-term names in the Ducks prospect pool since Anaheim grabbed him in the third round of the 2024 NHL Draft. He backed up that selection with a huge final junior season for Chicoutimi, pacing the QMJHL in goals and points while collecting major league honors that put him firmly on the radar as more than just a developmental flier.
For Ducks fans hoping to see him in orange and black sooner rather than later, the timeline is still a patient one. Masse is unsigned and Anaheim retains his rights for several more years, which gives the organization time to let his game breathe while he takes his next step in college hockey and keeps building toward the NHL. [Read more 🡒]