San Diego Gulls Sign Matthew Phillips And Nikolas Brouillard
Jul 2, 2025The San Diego Gulls announced today that the American Hockey League (AHL) club has signed right wing Matthew Phillips to a two-year standard player contract (SPC) and defenseman Nikolas Brouillard to a one-year SPC.
Phillips, 27 (4/6/1998), led the Colorado Eagles in points in 2024-25, collecting 18-39=57 points with eight penalty minutes (PIM) and a +24 rating. Among Eagles skaters, he ranked second in assists, tied for third in +/- rating and fifth in goals. His 57-point campaign marked his third AHL season with 55-plus points in his last four seasons. Phillips also tallied 1-7=8 points with a +3 rating in 9 Calder Cup Playoff games this season.
Originally selected by Calgary in the sixth round (166th overall) of the 2016 NHL Draft, Phillips has earned 124-176=300 points with 52 PIM and a +38 rating in 339 career AHL games with Stockton, Calgary, Hershey and Colorado from 2016-25. He added 5-18=23 points in 39 career Calder Cup playoff games and helped the Hershey Bears to a second consecutive Calder Cup Championship in 2024. The 5-8, 160-pound forward was named to the AHL First All-Star team in 2022-23 after recording an AHL career-high 36-40=76 points in 66 games for Calgary, ranking second in goals and fifth in points among all AHL skaters. He has also been named an AHL All-Star twice (2019-20 and 2022-23). Additionally, since Phillips’ rookie season in 2018-19, he ranks 10th among all AHL skaters in points (322) while sitting 11th in assists (193) and 15th in goals (129). Phillips has appeared in 34 career National Hockey League (NHL) games with Calgary, Pittsburgh and Washington, posting 1-4=5 points
A Calgary, Alberta native, Phillips tallied 136-145=281 in 215 career games for the Victoria Royals of the Western Hockey League (WHL) from 2014-18. He was named the WHL Rookie of the Year in 2015-16 after he led all rookies in both points (37-39=76) and goals. He was also named to the WHL’s Western division First All-Star Team in 2016-17 and 2018-19, where he posted 50-40=90 and 48-64=112 points respectively.
Brouillard, 30 (2/7/1995), co-led Coachella Valley Firebirds defensemen in points and goals in 2024-25, scoring 7-31=38 points with 55 PIM and a +3 rating in 69 games. The 5-10, 172-pound defenseman returns to the Gulls after he spent three seasons with San Diego from 2020-23. Brouillard leads all-time Gulls AHL defensemen in points (22-70=92) and assists, ranks second in PIM (279), third in goals, fourth in games played (167) and sixth in points-per-game (0.55; min. 50 games played). Across 307 career AHL games with Coachella Valley, Hartford, San Diego and Toronto from 2016-25, he has earned 34-132=166 points with 471 PIM. He also appeared in 39 ECHL contests with Orlando in 2016-17, tallying 7-14=21 points with 62 PIM.
A St. Hilaire, Quebec native, Brouillard recorded 62-197=259 points, 312 PIM and a +18 rating in 312 career Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) games from 2011-16 with Drummondville, Quebec, and Rouyn-Noranda. He led QMJHL blueliners in goals twice (2014-15, 17; 2015-16, 17), as well as points once (2014-15, 17-40=57). He was named to the QMJHL All-Rookie Team in 2011-12 after scoring 2-23=25 points in 61 games for Drummondville.
Brouillard also spent three seasons at McGill University from 2017-20, where he tallied 22-27=49 points in 57 games. He was named USports Defenseman of the Year in 2019-20 after recording 7-16=23 points in 28 games, earning All-Canadian Team honors in the process. He also posted the most goals by a USports blueliner in 2018-19 with 12 and was named OUA East Second All-Star Team.