Gulls Regular 2025-26 Season Review

By Thomas Harrington

For the first time since the 2021-2022 season, the San Diego Gulls have qualified for the Calder Cup Playoffs. They finished with a record of 33-27-8-4, good for seventh in the Pacific Division. Their 78 points were a 12 point improvement over the previous season. The Gulls were able to up their total goals scored from 216 to 224 and reduce their total goals against from 251 to 228. San Diego’s record was similar both at home and on the road, finishing three games above .500 in both locations.

In their 11th season as Anaheim’s primary AHL affiliate, nine players played for both the Ducks and Gulls: Tristan Luneau, Sam Colangelo, Nathan Gaucher, Tim Washe, Tyson Hinds, Nikita Nesterenko, Ian Moore, Ville Husso, and Vyacheslav Buteyets. Pat Verbeek has been Anaheim’s GM since the end of the 2021-2022 season. By now, the pattern appears to be clear. He moves players between the two teams much less than Bob Murray did. The nine this year is actually two more than each of the two previous seasons. In the years prior to Verbeek, it wasn’t uncommon to see a dozen or more players play for both teams.

San Diego’s offense took a small step forward this past year. After spending part of the 2024-2025 season in the ECHL, Sasha Pastujov really stepped up this season, leading the team with 57 points. He tied for the team lead in assists with 36 and came second in goals with 21. Matthew Phillips recorded 52 points, and tied Pastujov for the team lead in assists, while Ryan Carpenter had 48 points and Justin Bailey had 42. Bailey also led the team with 25 goals. Judd Caulfield took a massive step this season, finishing with 17 goals and 38 points, bettering his career high by 13 points.  Despite spending a lot of time in Anaheim, Washe still finished with 27 points, and Colangelo had 36. No forward played in every game, though Pastujov, Phillips, Carpenter, Bailey, Caulfield, and Nico Myatovic all only missed one game all season.

Yegor Sidorov took a step back in his sophomore season, dropping from 34 points to 29. However, it felt like the coaching staff couldn’t quite figure out how to consistently use the highly-skilled winger. Gaucher had a difficult start to the season, but was one of San Diego’s best forwards to end the season, earning him a callup to Anaheim. He finished with a career high 29 points. Jan Mysak’s second full season in San Diego was definitely not as good as his first, though part of that was because of how much time he missed. He recorded only 23 points in 56 games. Myatovic matched his rookie campaign with 19 points, while Cal Burke’s first season in San Diego saw him record 17 points. Nesterenko only played in 35 games, but his 15 points were lower than expected for him. Coulson Pitre started the year on injured reserve and then in the ECHL. He ended up playing in 25 games and scoring two goals and five points. Roger McQueen, Herman Traff, and Lucas Pettersson all joined the team late in the season and played a handful of games. McQueen was the only one of them to score, finishing with three points in seven games.

San Diego’s defensive group had some solid players in it. Luneau is definitely the Gulls’ star on the backend. He didn’t have quite as many points as his rookie year, but 41 is still a solid season to go along with his improved defensive play. Roland McKeown saw his point totals fall in his second season with the Gulls, but was a mainstay on the team’s top pair. Stian Solberg had a strong rookie season. His overall defensive game has some rough edges, but he’s a physical force on the backend and finished with 24 points. Nikolas Brouillard is in his second tour of duty with the Gulls, and he was a solid contributor with 24 points. Outside of Luneau, Hinds is the most NHL ready of Anaheim’s defensive prospects and was rewarded with a callup late in the season. His 19 points were a career high, and if he’d played in more games, he would have been the fifth defenseman to eclipse the 20 point mark in San Diego. Noah Warren is known for his physical play, but did manage to score his first two goals this past season, after not scoring during his rookie year. Matt Basgall was signed at the conclusion of his college career and played in four games to end the season. Konnor Smith spent most of the year in the ECHL, but still got in 13 games with the Gulls. Moore only played in four games for the Gulls, spending most of the year in Anaheim. Roman Kinal also spent most of the year in the ECHL, but played in 14 AHL games. No San Diego defenseman played in every game, but McKeown and Solberg both only missed one game all season.

In net, the Gulls used five goaltenders. Husso was San Diego’s starting goaltender when the season began. However, once Petr Mrazek was injured, Husso was called up to be Lukas Dostal’s backup for the rest of the season. Once that happened, Calle Clang became the Gulls’ starter. He played in a career-high 36 games and had a record of 18-9-6-3. He improved his goals against average from 3.17 in the 2024-2025 season to 2.80, and his save percentage from .895 to .897. Husso’s 17 games were still second to Clang, and he had a record of 8-6-3-3 with a 2.55 goals against average and a .903 save percentage. Suchanek spent much of the early season in the ECHL, but was Clang’s backup for much of the second half of the season. He played in 15 games and had a record of 5-7-3. Damian Clara played in three games to end the season, and had a 1-2 record. Buteyets spent most of the year in the ECHL, but played in three games in November and one more in January, with a record of 1-3.

2025-2026 wasn’t a fantastic season for the Gulls, but it was a much improved one that saw them get back to the Calder Cup Playoffs. While San Diego won’t be a favorite in their first round matchup against Colorado, they are a good enough team to win two out of three games against the Eagles. It’s great to see the Gulls back in the playoffs, but hopefully they’ll be even better next season.

Listen to our hockey podcast by clicking below or visiting us at Podomatic, Rumble, Spreaker, or YouTube.

Support us by becoming a DucksNPucks patron! Members can win game tickets, Ducks gear, and more!

Want to start your sports media career? Then Join The Puck Network!

DucksNPucks is part of The Puck Network, which covers the entire NHL. There are openings to cover your favorite team(s) and earn school credits! If you are interested, then apply by filling out the form here: Join Our Team. What are you waiting for? Start your sports media career TODAY!

April 20th, 2026