The Ducks have named Dave Manson head coach of the San Diego Gulls, Anaheim’s primary development affiliate in the American Hockey League (AHL). With the announcement, Manson becomes the sixth head coach in Gulls AHL history. In addition, Kelly Buchberger and Steve McCarthy have been named assistant coaches, joining goaltending coach Jeff Glass and video coordinator Lucas Hurtt. This marks Manson's first head coach role at the professional level.
“After helping lead the Gulls to the playoffs last season, it was clear Dave made a big impact behind the bench,” said Ducks General Manager Pat Verbeek. “Dave brings nearly 25 years of coaching experience, and he will help strengthen the standard of excellence and development we have established in San Diego as head coach.”
Manson, 59, brings over two decades of coaching experience in both professional and junior hockey. He joined the Gulls as an assistant coach in 2025-26, overseeing the defense and penalty kill, helping the club to its first postseason berth since the 2021-22 season. Under his guidance, the Gulls penalty kill ranked eighth among all AHL clubs at 83.5% and the club was the second-least penalized team in the AHL (749 penalty minutes).
Prior to joining San Diego, Manson spent the 2024-25 season as an assistant coach for the Lethbridge Hurricanes of the Western Hockey League (WHL). He spent parts of three seasons as assistant coach with the Edmonton Oilers from 2022-24 after being promoted from the same role with the Bakersfield Condors (AHL) on Feb. 10, 2022. With Edmonton, Manson helped the club reach the 2022 Western Conference Final, as well as the 2023 Western Conference Second Round.
Prior to his role with Edmonton, Manson spent four AHL seasons as an assistant coach with Bakersfield from 2018-22, helping the club to two Pacific Division titles (2019 and 2021). He aided in the development of numerous defensemen within the Oilers organization from the AHL to the NHL, including Evan Bouchard, Philip Broberg and Vincent Desharnais. Manson also served 14 seasons as a coach with the Prince Albert Raiders of the WHL, including six as an associate coach (2012-18) and eight as assistant coach (2002-09 and 2011-12), where he aided in the development of NHL players such as Leon Draisaitl and Josh Morrissey.
Originally selected by Chicago in the first round (11th overall) of the 1985 NHL Draft, the Prince Albert, Saskatchewan native appeared in 1,103 career NHL games with Chicago, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Phoenix, Montreal, Dallas, and Toronto across 16 seasons. The defenseman recorded 102-288=390 points with the 13th-most penalty minutes in NHL history (2,792). His son, Josh, was selected by Anaheim in the sixth round (160th overall) of the 2011 NHL Draft and spent eight seasons with the Ducks. Josh helped Colorado to a Stanley Cup championship in 2022.
Buchberger, 59, brings over two decades of coaching and player development experience in the NHL, AHL and WHL to San Diego. Buchberger served as assistant coach for the Edmonton Oilers from 2008-14, as well as development coach from 2005-07, director of player personnel from 2014-16 and director of player development in 2016-17. He also served as assistant coach for the New York Islanders in 2017-18.
Most recently, Buchberger served as assistant coach for the Laval Rocket from 2021-24, where he helped lead the Rocket to the Eastern Conference Final in 2022 and aided in the development of NHL players such as Ducks forward Ryan Poehling, as well as current Canadiens' Cole Caufield and Jakub Dobes. Buchberger was head coach for the AHL's Springfield Falcons in 2007-08, where he led the team to a 25-35-10-10 record in his lone season at the helm. He also served as assistant coach for the Edmonton Road Runners in 2004-05.
Buchberger served as head coach for the Tri-City Americans of the WHL from 2018-21, leading them to the WHL Playoffs in his lone full season in 2018-19 with a 34-28-6 record (WHL playoffs not held in 2020 & 2021 due to COVID-19 pandemic).
As a player, Buchberger skated in 1,182 career NHL games with Edmonton, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Pittsburgh, tallying 105-209=305 points with his 2,297 PIM top-40 among all-time among NHL skaters. Buchberger won two Stanley Cups with the Oilers in 1987 and 1990 and served as Edmonton's captain from 1995-99. He also served as captain for the Atlanta Thrashers’ inaugural season in 1999-00.
A Langenburg, Saskatchewan native, Buchberger represented Canada at three World Championships in 1993, 1994 and 1996, helping Canada win gold in 1994 and silver in 1996. He was teammates with Gulls head coach Dave Manson in Edmonton from 1991-94, as well as Canada’s 1993 World Championship squad.
McCarthy, 45, spent parts of the last five seasons as an assistant coach for the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets from 2021-26, where he oversaw the team’s defense and penalty kill and coached defenseman Zach Werenski, who was named the 2025-26 James Norris Memorial Trophy as the NHL's top defenseman. Prior to joining the Blue Jackets, McCarthy served as assistant coach for the Cleveland Monsters, the Blue Jackets’ AHL affiliate, where he helped lead the Monsters to a playoff appearance in 2019. The Trail, British Columbia native also served as an assistant coach for Team Canada at the 2025 World Championship.
As a player, McCarthy had an 18-year playing career as a defenseman. He skated in 302 career NHL games with Chicago, Vancouver and Atlanta from 1999-2008, posting 17-38=55 points with 168 PIM. McCarthy was selected by Chicago in the first round (23rd overall) of the 1999 NHL Draft. He also appeared in 191 career AHL contests, earning 13-48=61 points with 126 PIM with Norfolk, Chicago, Abbotsford, Springfield, Iowa and Lake Erie. He represented Canada at the 2000 and 2001 World Junior Championships, helping Team Canada earn bronze in back-to-back tournaments.
