After failing to land any of the vacant NHL coaching jobs, Dallas Eakins has decided to stick around with Anaheim. The Ducks announced (Twitter link) that they have signed their AHL bench boss to a multi-year contract extension. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Eakins has spent the past three seasons with the San Diego Gulls. The team finished second in the Pacific Division in each of his first two years there but struggled a bit more this past season, posting a 36-28-3-1 record; their 76 points were tied for fourth but the Gulls missed the postseason on a tiebreaker. Overall, the team has posted a 118-71-10-5 record under his leadership.
The 51-year-old has also spent time as the head coach for the AHLs Toronto Marlies as well as the Edmonton Oilers.
While Eakins will be remaining with the Gulls, one of his assistants won’t be. In a separate tweet, the Ducks announced that assistant coach Marty Wilford has been promoted to the big club after spending the past three years with San Diego. This will be his first foray into coaching in the NHL after also spending time as an assistant with Syracuse and Norfolk of the AHL.
Meanwhile, the team also revealed via Twitter that goaltender Ryan Miller underwent surgery on Friday to remove a bone fragment in his wrist. The expected timeline for recovery is six weeks so he should be ready in time for training camp in September.
The fact Carlyle is still with them is mind boggling
So strange that Eakins gets an extension while one of his assistant coaches gets the promotion. Hopefully in November when Carlyle is still not adapting, Eakins will replace him.