San Diego Gulls name Dave Manson head coach, reshuffle staff
Dave Manson was elevated to lead San Diego, a move that puts Anaheim’s development pipeline and blue-line prospects at the center of the Gulls’ reset.
The Anaheim Ducks named Dave Manson head coach of the San Diego Gulls on July 20, elevating him to the sixth head coach in franchise history and reshaping the AHL staff around him. For Anaheim, the move is about more than filling a seat behind the bench, it is a first public blueprint for how the organization wants its primary development affiliate to handle young NHL-adjacent players, especially defensemen who need real minutes and tighter teaching than they can get in a brief NHL call-up.
Manson already knew the room. He had been on the Gulls staff as an assistant coach before the promotion, which gives Anaheim continuity at a time when the parent club is trying to streamline how prospects move through San Diego and into Anaheim. The Ducks also named Kelly Buchberger and Steve McCarthy as assistant coaches, while a previous Gulls announcement had listed Manson and Michael Babcock as assistants, a sign the bench was being reorganized before Manson was pushed into the top job.
That matters because San Diego is not just a place to park prospects, it is Anaheim’s primary development affiliate in the American Hockey League. The Gulls’ season will be judged less by raw standings and more by whether the club becomes a better classroom for blue-line prospects, depth forwards and young players who sit on the NHL fringe. If the system is working, San Diego should show more repeatable defensive structure, cleaner exits under pressure and more comfortable minutes for players who may need one more round of AHL reps before they are ready for Anaheim.
The measurable changes to watch this season are straightforward. Track how many young defensemen can survive heavy defensive-zone usage, whether the Gulls cut down on breakdowns that force scrambling shifts, and how often players on the edge of the NHL roster earn higher-leverage ice time instead of being sheltered. A development team that is doing its job should produce fewer stunted prospects and more call-up options the Ducks can trust when injuries hit or the NHL lineup opens up.
Manson’s elevation, paired with the addition of Buchberger and McCarthy, gives Anaheim a chance to build a deeper base in San Diego before the season pushes into its long middle stretch. If the Gulls start feeding the Ducks more ready-made defensemen and more reliable depth pieces, this hire will look less like a staffing change and more like a course correction.
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