The Ducks conducted one coaching search last summer, and now they’re faced with another.

While Joel Quenneville’s spot behind the bench at Honda Center is quite safe and thus far none of his assistants have been plucked away by other teams, their top minor-league affiliate that will need a new steward.

Matt McIlvane, who had coached the American Hockey League’s San Diego Gulls for the past three seasons, will be moving cross-country to join the Boston Bruins as an assistant coach.

In a statement released by the Gulls, McIlvane, 40, thanked club ownership, players, his fellow coaches and what he called “America’s finest fans.”

“To the players: thank you for becoming the brotherhood and for your dedication to becoming better every day,” he said. “I’m so incredibly proud of your growth individually and as a group.

“To America’s finest fans: Thank you for welcoming my family and I into the San Diego community. You truly make Pechanga Arena an awesome place to play.”

McIlvane’s final Gulls team was his best one: the 2025-26 club went 33-27-8-4 and qualified for the Calder Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2022.

In a classically criss-crossed pattern, an AHL head coach became an NHL assistant because of a job opened up by an NHL assistant becoming an AHL head coach. Former Bruins assistant Jay Leach moved down to Hartford to take over the New York Rangers’ AHL club, the Hartford Wolfpack.

Less than two months ago, the Ducks extended the contract of McIlvane.

Prior to joining the Ducks organization, he coached professionally in Germany and Austria, winning championships in both nations’ top leagues.

The Illinois native further glossed up his resume in Europe with the German national team. He was an assistant for the 2021 World Championship squad that reached the bronze medal game and also on the 2018 Olympic side that won silver.

In Boston, he’ll be reunited with former Kings assistant coach and Ontario Reign bench boss Marco Sturm. Sturm was the head coach of the German silver medalists and will soon enter his second season as the Bruins’ head coach.

“We are excited to welcome Matt, his wife Megan, and their children Mason and Mila to Boston,” Sturm said. “I’ve had the privilege of working with Matt through the German National Team, and I’ve come to know him as an outstanding coach and person. He is an excellent teacher and communicator who has done a great job developing players throughout his coaching career.”