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...
Canucks Fans Are Getting Squeezed Again Just To Watch Hockey
Watching hockey in Canada keeps getting more expensive, and for Canucks fans the latest reminder comes from Sportsnets annual premium subscription plan, which has gone up again. The network still matters because it carries the NHL rights many viewers are chasing, but the convenience of streaming is starting to look less like a bargain and more like another bill that arrives every season.
TSN has already pushed its TSN+ annual price higher this year as well, adding to the sense that fans are being nudged in every direction at once. When those streaming totals get stacked against a traditional cable bundle that includes TSN and Sportsnet, the comparison gets harder to ignore, and it leaves one familiar question hanging over the whole business of watching the game. [Read more 🡒]
Canucks Fans Have A Real Kirill Kudryavtsev Development Debate Now
Kirill Kudryavtsevs first full look across the Canucks organization gave fans plenty to chew on, because the young defenseman spent the 2025-26 season bouncing between Abbotsford and Vancouver while carving out a bigger role than many expected. In the AHL, he put together a steady year with 44 games, two goals and 18 assists, and he also got into three NHL games, giving the club a glimpse of how his game might translate when the pace and pressure rise.
Abbotsford needed him to do more as departures and injuries thinned the blue line, and he was asked to handle larger minutes while moving through different pairings. The season ended up feeling like a real development checkpoint for him, the kind that can shape how a prospect is viewed going forward, and it left the Canucks with a clearer sense of where his game is already reliable and where the next step still has to come. [Read more 🡒]
Patrick Kane's Return Says Everything About Where Blackhawks Believe They're Headed
For Canucks fans looking for a reason to feel better about the future, the conversation around Caleb Malhotra has been part of the appeal. The third-overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft comes with local ties to Victoria and British Columbia, which only adds to the buzz around a prospect already carrying the kind of expectations that follow a selection that high. It is the sort of development that keeps a fan base engaged even when the bigger-picture questions are still being sorted out.
Around the league, though, the Blackhawks are making a different kind of statement with Patrick Kanes return. Chicagos serious interest never really faded, and the contract reflects how badly the organization wanted him back as it leans into a clearer direction. The details of the deal tell you plenty about the trust involved, and they also leave one obvious question hanging over the move: how far the Blackhawks are willing to go in building around it. [Read more 🡒]