Off Season Signings & Departures

This is your one stop shop for all San Diego Gulls or likely to affect the Gulls signings or departures.

June 6th: Trevor Murphy and Andrej Sustr sign deals with Kunlun of the KHL, based out of Shanghai/Beijing. Losing Murphy was a bit of a shock and now even more so after all the other defensemen that have since left.

June 20th: Anaheim sign Ryan Miller, Derek Grant and Korbinian Holzer to one year deals. Miller and Grant likely won’t affect the Gulls but Holzer could be seeing time in San Diego this year depending on how the battle for the final spot on the third pairing goes.

June 27th: Anaheim extends Sam Carrick on a one year, one way contract. The Gulls leading scorer is brought back and likely takes over captaincy duties full time.

July 1st: Ducks sign Center Andrew Poturalski to one year deal. Won both the Calder Cup and MVP honours in a successful run with the Checkers last year. He had 70 points in 72 games with Charlotte last year, as well as scoring 23 points in 18 postseason games – you can see why he was named MVP for their run.

• Kid doing a Fortnite dance during a break
• AHLTV scoreboard covering the screen during play
• #BENOITSMASH
• #DREWSMASH
• Snipe City Drew
• Brendan Guhle takes a bad penalty
• Trevor Carrick takes a penalty at the worst time possible
• Maple Syrup Bros
• Captain Sam Scores!
• Limoges Lets it GOOOOO!
• #PUREPERREAULT
• Spot Jeff Bush and the hat
• Dubious call goes against the Gulls
• Jacob Perreault draws a penalty
• Tropp The Mic – Style Goal
• Zilch hot mic interlude – fastfood chat or beatboxing

July 1st: Andy Welinski signs a one year deal with the Flyers. I speculated in my End Of Year Grades that he would likely move on – his uncanny ability to get a point shot through traffic is going to be sorely missed.

July 1st: Jaycob Megna signs a one year deal with the Vegas Golden Knights. This one hurts. I really thought that being named Captain might entice the Florida native to stick around; but I dont begrudge him for attempting to further his NHL dreams.

July 1st: Ben Street signs a one year deal with the New Jersey Devils. I thought Street was doing well and enjoying his time with the Gulls but I guess he felt the Devils offered a better opportunity to get a shot in the NHL.

July 1st: Jake Dotchin signs with the San Antonio Rampage. I didnt expect him back – especially after he was played out of his spot toward the end of the year but losing three defensemen in one day – and particularly after already losing Murphy; didnt feel great.

July 2nd: Anaheim signs 26 year old left winger Blake Pietila. The 5’11” Michigan native had 46 points in 50 games for the baby Devils in Binghamton last season.

July 2nd: The latest playdate for Kevin Boyle – Anaheim signs former Philidelphia 2nd rounder Anthony Stolarz to a two year deal. The 6’6″ New Jersey native has 25 total NHL games experience and a 6-6-0 record with a .908 SV% and 3.04 GAA.

July 4th: Anaheim signs Finnish defenseman Jani Hakanpaa to a one year deal. The 6’5″ defender is described as a stay-at-home type and lead the Finnish elite league in +/- back to back for the last two seasons. Might be the perfect partner to pair with Mahura and steady his confidence levels while also providing valuable tutelage on how to play in his own end. Thats if he ends up with the Gulls – he will be competing with Holzer to get that last pairing spot alongside Larsson.

July 5th: Adam Cracknell signs with Kunlun in the KHL also; joining Trevor Murphy and Andrej Sustr. I was really upset to lose him; he had developed some great chemistry with Max Comtois in a very short amount of time while also being the seemingly compulsory “Fehr Factor” that the Gulls need every season.

• Kid doing a Fortnite dance during a break
• AHLTV scoreboard covering the screen during play
• #BENOITSMASH
• #DREWSMASH
• Snipe City Drew
• Brendan Guhle takes a bad penalty
• Trevor Carrick takes a penalty at the worst time possible
• Maple Syrup Bros
• Captain Sam Scores!
• Limoges Lets it GOOOOO!
• #PUREPERREAULT
• Spot Jeff Bush and the hat
• Dubious call goes against the Gulls
• Jacob Perreault draws a penalty
• Tropp The Mic – Style Goal
• Zilch hot mic interlude – fastfood chat or beatboxing

July 5th: Kevin Roy signs with Florida on a year deal. Not a huge shock and I had expected him to try his luck in getting a better shot at the NHL; still hurts to see how he might realise his potential with another club.

July 5th: Anaheim signs Norwegian bruising left winger Andreas Martinsen to a one year deal. Described as loving to crash the net, with a hard shot and enjoying the physical part of the game – his signing is puzzling in the grand scheme of things with all the talent the Gulls have lost but having at least one player that plays with an edge and loves to crash the net is always requirement in the AHL. He has totalled 23 points in 152 NHL games over his four year NHL career and looks to be a fourth line depth player for the Ducks and middling energy veteran presence for the Gulls.

July 11th: Anaheim signs defender Michael Del Zotto to a one year one way deal worth $750,000. The right shooting defender had a brief stint with the Ducks last season when he was acquired mid season from Vancouver for Luke Schenn and a 2020 7th round pick. He was later dealt to the eventual Stanley Cup Winning St Louis Blues for a 202 6th round pick. He will compete with Korbinian Holzer and Janne Hakanpaa for the third pairing right side defenceman alongside Jacob Larsson.

July 12th: Chase De Leo avoids arbitration by signing a one year two way deal worth $750,000 in the NHL and $100,000 in the AHL as per Cap Friendly. This is a well deserved pay rise from the $65,000 he was earning in the AHL on his previous contract and will see him earning almost 30,000 more in the NHL.

July 15th: Anaheim signs Justin Kloos to a one year two way contract, paying him $700,000 in the NHL and $85,000 in the AHL as per Cap Friendly. A slight pay rise of $15,000 on his previous two year deal. He will look to spend his first full year with the Gulls and likely plays on a line with De Leo as he did last season.

July 15th: Anaheim signs Chris Wideman to a one year two way contract, paying him $700,000 in the NHL and $350,000 in the AHL. The St Louis born defender took a significant pay cut from the previous $1,000,000 salary he had with the Senators last season. The signing provides the Gulls with some additional much needed veteran depth on their blue line.

July 25th: Perhaps the most painful of all the offseason departures. Kalle Kossila was announced to have signed a two year deal with the Toronto Mapleleafs. The Finnish center began his professional career in the Gulls second season in the AHL and has been a fan favourite ever since. I wish him well in his endeavor to get regular NHL time.

July 31st: Matt Berry signs a one year deal with the Tuscon Roadrunners. The rugged winger had earned his way into a one year deal with the Gulls through hard-work and hustle after signing a PTO from the ECHL. It was looking tight for him to earn and maintain a roster spot next year given the arrival of Morand and Comtois from Juniors as well as the supplemental signings of Martinsen and Pietila.

August 14th: San Diego announces the signing of six players to one year AHL deals.

Brent Gates Jr. (C) – The 2015 third round pick for Anaheim made his pro-debut at the tail end of last season, bringing some great hustle and a willingness to crash the net. He tallied two points in six games but was edged out of the line-up as previous recalls came down after the Ducks season ended. I am excited to see what he can do with a full year and this one year deal is a good opportunity for him to showcase himself.

Hunter Drew (D) – As much as I had already assumed that the 2018 sixth round pick would be a fixture with the Gulls this season, it was a nice surprise to see him get inked to a deal before the season is due to start. He finished his Junior tenure with a nice 50 points in 61 games statline and looks to slot into the Gulls defense likely on the third pairing. He was the last drafted defender to emerge from the previously much-vaunted pipeline but thanks to the drafting of Lacombe and Thrun this past summer, the pressure is off Drew but hopes still remain that he could be another Simon Benoit in the making.

Steven Ruggiero (D) – Has had a rough start to his post-draft career. Having suffered several setbacks in development with knee and hip issues. Once the defensive presence alongside the likes of Charlie McAvoy for the USNDP, his progression through College followed bad luck injury after bad luck setback. Here is hoping he emerges as the feel good story of this upcoming season as he battles back to realise the potential that he was originally drafted for. As of right now I see him as the extra defensemen but he is very likely to see gametime this season, particularly if the inevitable injury bug hits the Ducks and forces a recall of one of the regular top six.

Roman Durny (G) – Of all of these one year deals announced this one makes possibly the least roster sense. The Ducks org is already set with third to fifth tier goaltender options behind the Gibson/Miller tandem in Anaheim. Kevin Boyle, Anthony Stolarz, Olle Eriksson Ek, Lukas Dostal and Angus Redmond are all under contract. Dostal is already confirmed to be playing in Finland this upcoming year but giving Durny an AHL deal means he will need to be given a home in the ECHL somewhere (reminder – the Ducks do not have an ECHL affiliate in place) which is how Angus Redmond found himself bounced around three different clubs in the E last season. At this point he probably jumps Redmond in the depth chart and gets the call should Boyle or Stolarz go down with injury. I was never a fan of his drafting and I am equally befuddled by this AHL deal.

Alex Broadhurst (C) – Is another great veteran signing that I am vocally applauding. The former Chicago seventh-round pick helped lead the Lake Erie Monsters to a Calder Cup title in 2015-2016, he had 12 points in 17 games during the run. He had 30 points in 51 games for the Monsters last season and made his NHL debut with the Blue Jackets the season before, playing in two games but going scoreless. He provides much needed veteran presence behind Sam Carrick if the likes of Corey Tropp is not brought back.

Luke Gazdic (LW) – Is back for another tour of duty. We already knew he had signed on when the bashful winger announced it on Instragram last month but his presence is a great boost to team morale and a deterrent to would-be pests looking to target any of the Gulls smaller skill players.

Roster Outlook

(Updated August 14th)

The roster as it looks with confirmed signed players is as follows.

Kopacka – Lundestrom – Sherwood

Comtois* – Carrick – Poutarlski / Morand

Pietila/Broadhurst – Kloos – De Leo

Martinsen – Dostie/Gates Jr. – Sideroff

^Gazdic, Dostie

Mahura – Holzer

Benoit – Sieloff

Drew – Wideman

^Ruggiero

Boyle

Stolarz

^Durny, Redmond

*Assuming he doesnt make the Ducks out of camp. It will be a battle between he and Jones.