Ducks sign Coach Roy Sommer to one year deal

San Diego, California. Sharks and Barracuda writer Kevin Lacey first noticed it two days ago when he saw Sommer was listed as the San Diego Gulls Head Coach on the NHLCA (NHL Coaches Association) website.

Uhhhhh……… This has to be a clerical error…… right? Looking over the NHLCA website and Roy Sommer is now listed as the head coach of the San Diego Gulls. 🤨 I've heard/seen nothing else to indicate this as fact. #sjbarracuda #LetsGoGulls pic.twitter.com/UKMvNL7N2C
— Kevin Lacy 🇺🇦 (@KevinLacy22) July 4, 2022

This morning Ducks beat writer and local legend Eric Stephens lent further credence by tweeting that multiple sources have confirmed to him that Sommer has been singed to a one year deal to coach the Gulls for the upcoming season.

Learned through multiple sources that #NHLDucks have hired Roy Sommer to coach the @SDGullsAHL. Believe it is a one-year deal. Sommer, 65, is the AHL's all-time winningest head coach. Was with the #SJSharks organization for 24 years.
— Eric Stephens (@icemancometh) July 7, 2022

As stated by Stephens above Sommer is the AHLs all time winningest coach despite back to back seasons of the Barracuda finishing bottom or near the bottom of the Pacific. The Sharks are at the very beginning of their rebuild and he has not had a heck of a lot to work with so it will be interesting to see how he fares with a Gulls roster that is looking more than likely to be reloaded with some experience and talent this off-season.

Details are likely to be confirmed after the draft so that he can join the Ducks for development camp.

Expect assistant coaching staff announcements to be announced shortly thereafter.

As an aside – this hopefully also means that Trevor Carrick (Sommers former Captain with the Barracuda) is brought back and named the Gulls next Captain as he should have been last season.