San Diego Gulls Sign Seven Players To AHL Contracts
Jul 15, 2026
The San Diego Gulls announced today that the American Hockey League (AHL) club has signed forwards Drew Elliot, Kyle Kukkonen and Sasha Mutala and defensemen Matt Basgall, Roman Kinal, Jake Lee and Jackson Niedermayer to a one-year AHL contracts.
Elliott, 23 (4/4/03), posted 14-14=28 points and 17 penalty minutes (PIM) in 37 games with the Tulsa Oilers (ECHL) last season. Elliott has also skated in six games for San Diego, notching his first career AHL goal March 29 at Abbotsford. In 2024-25, he made his AHL debut with the Gulls April 2, 2025 vs. Abbotsford and appeared in three regular season games for Tulsa, tallying three assists (0-3=3). In six 2025 ECHL playoff games for Tulsa, Elliott recorded 4-2=6 points, leading all Oilers skaters in playoff points.
The 5-10, 196-pound forward posted 14-8=22 points with 20 PIM and a +20 rating in 26 games for the University of New Brunswick in 2024-25, helping lead the Reds to their seventh consecutive Atlantic University Sport title. He also earned an assist (0-1=1) with eight PIM and a +2 rating in five University Cup playoff games.
A Saint John, New Brunswick native, Elliott skated in 258 career Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) games with Baie-Comeau, Charlottetown, Drummondville and Saint John, recording 47-53=100 points with 200 PIM. He set QMJHL career highs in points (15-12=27), goals, assists, +/- rating (+19) and games played (55) with Charlottetown in 2021-22, helping lead the Islanders to the QMJHL Championship final. In 36 career QMJHL playoff games, Elliott posted 8-5=13 points with 12 PIM.
Kukkonen, 23 (11/13/02), tallied 2-4=6 points with eight PIM in 28 games with the University of Wisconsin in 2025-26, helping the Badgers reach the NCAA Championship Final. A sixth-round, 162nd overall selection by the Anaheim Ducks in the 2021 NHL Draft, Kukkonen collected 31-33=64 points in 131 career NCAA games with Michigan Tech and Wisconsin from 2022-26.
In 2022-23 with Michigan Tech, the 5-10, 180-pound forward was named the CCHA Rookie of the Year after scoring a team-leading 18 goals and 27 points in 29 games for the Huskies. A Maple Grove, Minn. native, Kukkonen tallied 22-31=53 points with 40 PIM in 58 games for the USHL’s Madison Capitols in 2021-22. He also posted 1-4=5 points in 14 playoff games.
Mutala, 25 (5/6/01), tallied 3-4=7 points with 10 PIM and a +5 rating in 14 games for Tulsa in 2025-26. Prior to joining the Oilers, Mutala was named the 2025-26 Canada West Men's Hockey Player of the Year after recording 14-32=46 points with 12 PIM and a +19 rating in 28 games for the University of British Colombia (USports), ranking second among all USports skaters in assists and points-per-game (1.64) and third in points. He also led all Canada West skaters in scoring, the first Thunderbirds player to do so since 1985. His 46 points were the third highest by a Canada West skater in the last 12 years and his 32 assists were a program record for a single season.
In 108 career games for UBC from 2022-26, he posted 40-97=137 points with 66 PIM. He also recorded 5-14=19 points in 19 career USports playoff games. He was named to the Canada West Second All-Star Team two seasons in a row in 2024 and 2025 and was named to the Canada West All-Rookie team in 2023. He helped UBC win the Canada West championship in 2024, posting six assists in six playoff games.
A 6-foot-1, 200-pound forward, Mutala was drafted in the fifth round (140th overall) of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft by the Colorado Avalanche. He appeared in six AHL contests for the Colorado Eagles in 2020-21, earning one assist (0-1=1). He also appeared in seven ECHL games for the Utah Grizzlies in 2020-21, tallying 3-1=4 points. A Vancouver, British Columbia native, Mutala spent six seasons with the Tri-City Americans of the Western Hockey League (WHL) from 2016-22, where he skated in 266 career games while earning 84-112=196 points and 168 PIM. He also tallied 1-4=5 points in 19 career WHL playoff games. Mutala was teammates with Gulls goaltender Tomas Suchanek in Tri-City during the 2021-22 season.
Basgall, 23 (8/16/02), skated in four regular season games for San Diego last season, tallying 1-1=2 points and a +6 rating. He also appeared in two AHL playoff games for the Gulls. Prior to joining San Diego on an amateur tryout, he was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year for the 2025-26 season with Michigan State University (NCAA), posting 4-16=20 points with four penalty minutes (PIM) and a +16 rating in 37 games. Serving as captain for the Spartans, Basgall helped lead Michigan State to the best regular season record in the Big Ten (16-6-2), was named to the Big Ten First All-Star Team and earned a Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.
The 5-10, 185-pound defenseman recorded 15-64=79 points with 28 PIM and a +20 rating in 150 career NCAA games with Michigan State from 2022-26. In 2024-25, Basgall was named an American Hockey Coaches Association Second Team All-American, a Big Ten First Team All-American, was named to the Big Ten All-Tournament Team and was a finalist for Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year after posting 6-20=26 points with a +9 rating in 37 games. He helped the Spartans earn back-to-back Big Ten Championships in 2024 and 2025.
A Lake Forest, Ill. native, Basgall appeared in 146 career United States Hockey League (USHL) games with Omaha and Tri-City, tallying 12-55=67 points with 26 PIM and a +31 rating.
Kinal, 27 (7/20/98), appeared in 14 games for San Diego in 2025-26, tallying two PIM. He also tallied 2-7=9 points with 45 PIM and a team leading +8 rating in 24 ECHL games with Tulsa. Kinal has tallied 1-1=2 points with 50 games with San Diego from 2024-26. He scored his first career AHL goal Nov. 23, 2024 vs. Ontario. The 6-2, 190-pound defenseman has posted 3-14=17 points with 51 PIM and a +21 rating for Tulsa. He skated in six ECHL playoff games for the Oilers in 2025, collecting two assists (0-2=2).
The Waterford, Mich. native skated in 22 games with the San Jose Barracuda in 2023-24, earning one assist (0-1=1) and 39 PIM. He also recorded 7-11=18 points with 34 PIM in 45 games for the Wichita Thunder of the ECHL. He made his professional debut in 2022-23, skating in six games for the Barracuda.
Lee, 25 (7/13/01), tallied 3-1=4 points with 17 PIM and a +8 rating in 14 games with Tulsa last season. He was named the 2025-26 Canada West Men's Hockey Top Defenseman after leading all USports blueliners in points (14-20=34), goals and +/- rating (+37) in 28 games for the University of British Colombia, the first UBC defenseman to earn the honor since 1985.
The 6-foot-2, 200-pound defenseman ended his collegiate career as UBC’s all-time leading scorer for blueliners, posting 42-65=107 points with 92 PIM in 101 career games for the Thunderbirds, as well as 1-16=17 points in 19 career USports playoff games. He earned Canda West First All-Star Team and USports All-Canadian Second Team honors in 2023-24 and Canada West All-Rookie Team honors in 2022-23.
A Sherwood Park, Alberta native, Lee appeared in 277 career WHL games for the Seattle Thunderbirds and Kelowna Rockets from 2017-2022, posting 31-89=120 points with 264 PIM and a +44 rating. He earned WHL B.C. Division First All-Star Team honors in 2021-22 after posting 16-30=46 points, 40 PIM and a +23 rating in 66 games for Kelowna. Lee also helped Seattle capture the WHL Championship in 2016-17, skating in two playoff games.
Niedermayer, 25 (3/11/01), skated in 17 games with the Tulsa Oilers of the ECHL last season, posting 1-6=7 points with six PIM after wrapping up his NCAA career. The 6-foot, 201-pound blueliner earned 5-12=17 points with 14 PIM and a +16 rating in 32 games with Bowling Green State University, leading the team in +/- rating and ranking second in goals and third in points among Falcons defensemen.
The son of Hockey Hall of Famer and former Anaheim Ducks captain Scott Niedermayer, Jackson split his NCAA career with Bowling Green and Arizona State University from 2021-26. Across five NCAA seasons, the Newport Beach, Calif. native earned 20-24=44 points, 42 PIM and a +17 rating in 124 games.