Anaheim Ducks Extend Contract of Gulls Head Coach Matt McIlvane
Apr 15, 2026
The Anaheim Ducks announced today that the National Hockey League (NHL) club has agreed to a multi-year contract extension with Matt McIlvane, Head Coach of the San Diego Gulls, Anaheim’s primary development affiliate in the American Hockey League (AHL).
"Matt has been an integral part in the development and growth of our players and prospects in San Diego," said Ducks General Manager Pat Verbeek. "Having increased San Diego’s point total each season and leading the Gulls to a playoff berth this year, this was an easy decision. We are excited about what the future holds for the Gulls with Matt continuing to be at the helm."
McIlvane, the fifth head coach in Gulls AHL history, has led the club to a 33-24-8-4 record this season and their first Calder Cup Playoff berth since 2021-22. San Diego’s 33 overall wins and 17 road wins are the most since 2018-19 when San Diego finished with 36 and 18 respectively. The Gulls have earned a .559 points percentage under McIlvane this season. Excluding the COVID-19 season in 2020-21, it’s the highest winning percentage since the 2019-20 campaign (.596%).
McIlvane has led San Diego to a standings points increase in each of his three seasons as head coach, with a 20-point increase in 2023-24 (43 to 63 points), a three-point increase in 2024-25 (63 to 66 points) and a 12-point increase in 2025-26 (66 to 78 points) with three games remaining in the regular season.
During his tenure, 13 players have appeared in games for both the Ducks and Gulls since McIlvane was named San Diego’s head coach in 2023. Those players include current Ducks skaters Jansen Harkens, Drew Helleson, Tyson Hinds, Ville Husso, Ian Moore, Tim Washe and Olen Zellweger. Of those 13, six have made their NHL debut during McIlvane’s tenure (Vyacheslav Buteyets, Sam Colangelo, Nathan Gaucher, Hinds, Moore, Zellweger).
A native of Naperville, Ill. McIlvane won five league championships as a head coach and assistant coach in Europe over the course of 10 seasons. He joined the Gulls after spending four seasons as a coach with EC Red Bull Salzburg of the ICE Hockey League (International Central European Hockey League) from 2019-23, the top-tier league in Austria, featuring additional teams from Hungary, Italy, and Slovenia. McIlvane led Salzburg to back-to-back league championship in 2021-22 and 2022-23, and he also won an ICE Hockey League title as assistant coach with Salzburg in 2013-14.
Prior to his role with Salzburg, McIlvane spent five seasons with EHC Red Bull München in Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) from 2014-18, serving as associate coach in 2018-19 and assistant coach the prior four seasons. McIlvane helped München to three straight championships in 2016, 2017 and 2018, tied for the longest championship streak in DEL history. He began his coaching career as an assistant coach with the Orlando Solar Bears (ECHL) in 2012-13 and the Danville Dashers of the Federal Prospects Hockey League as General Manager and head coach (2011-12).
Internationally, McIlvane helped Germany to a silver medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang as an assistant coach, the country’s first-ever Olympic silver medal in hockey and third medal overall (two prior bronze). He also served as an assistant coach for Germany at the 2021 World Championship.