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Unproven assets and poor play follow Gulls into next season

Photo Credit: San Diego Gulls

The 2024-2025 season for the San Diego Gulls did not go the way most of the fans wanted. The club finished with a 29-35-5 record placing them ninth in the Pacific Division, eight points off of a spot in the 2025 Calder Cup Playoffs.

Coming off a rough season, Head Coach Matt McIlvane is going to have a tough job ahead this off-season if this team has any hope of securing a playoff spot. Although difficult, the campaign did show some bright spots for prospects. Leading the way was Tristan Luneau who commanded the team with fifty two points as the defenseman in his first real season of AHL. Luneau cemented his place as a top option for the Gulls going into the next year. Top goal scorers included forward Sam Colangelo, center Ryan Carpenter and recently acquired forward Justin Bailey.

Between the sticks, the tandem of Calle Clang and Oscar Dansk have to be better. Neither goalie averaged over a 900 save percentage in thirty plus games each this season. The importance of this off-season for the Gulls is to maximize the play time of the younger players. With the breakout games of Luneau and the incoming tenth overall pick of the Ducks in this year’s draft, the youth movement will be the most important when it comes to realizing the potential of this team.

A big need for this team will be to surround Luneau with capable tough defenseman. The Gulls this year were top five in the entire AHL for goals allowed and that all starts with building around your goaltending and providing defense for those goalies. Defensively, the Gulls’ special teams were abysmal in the Pacific Division, allowing the most power play goals against, along with having the worst penalty kill in the league. Special teams must be a major priority this off-season stocking up on proven defense with offense, as they spend more time giving up goals and opportunities than gaining. When a side gives up penalties and are not scoring enough, the outcome is often bad.

Along with loading up on defense, the Gulls really struggled in major points of the season to provide for more offensive presence. This starts with running the offense more efficiently through younger top goal scorers and playmakers. With the choice to let go of assistant coach Kris Sparre, there seemingly is a sense of urgency to improve upon the problems brought after this season. Perhaps, there needs to be a change in team identity.