Ryan McGill

Ryan Clifford McGill (born February 28, 1969) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player. He is currently an assistant coach with the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played in the 151 games in the NHL with the Chicago Blackhawks, Philadelphia Flyers, and Edmonton Oilers between 1991 and 1995. McGill's playing career ended prematurely as a result of an eye injury.

Playing career McGill was born on February 28, 1969, in Sherwood Park, Alberta. A second-round draft choice of the Chicago Blackhawks in the 1987 NHL Draft, he played a total of 151 career NHL games over a seven-year career with the Blackhawks, Philadelphia Flyers and Edmonton Oilers. His professional playing career also included the American Hockey League and International Hockey League. As a player in the Blackhawks development system, he was a member of the 1990 Turner Cup Champions which was then coached by Darryl Sutter.

McGill's playing career ended after he was struck in the left eye by an errant puck in a game against the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim on April 5, 1995. Despite attempts to save the sight, he was declared legally blind in that eye and was forced to retire at the age of 26.

Coaching career McGill served as an assistant coach for the Edmonton Ice in the Western Hockey League during the 1996–97 season. When the team began the 1997–98 season with nine losses and one tie, head Dave Siciliano was fired on October 24, 1997, and replaced by McGill.

McGill coached 350 games in the Western Hockey League, capping it off by steering the Kootenay Ice to the 2001–02 Memorial Cup title, the championship of all Canadian Major Junior hockey.

He guided the Hartford Wolf Pack (New York Rangers AHL affiliate) team to the 2003–04 regular season Eastern Conference title, tying for first place overall with a 44–24–12–2 mark for 102 points. That year, his team fell short of a trip to the Calder Cup Finals, losing in the Eastern Conference Finals to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

McGill joined the Calgary Flames as an assistant coach in June 2009 after four seasons as the head coach for the Flames' American Hockey League (AHL) primary affiliate team in Quad City and Omaha.

He was named head coach of the WHL's Kootenay Ice on July 4, 2012. On July 28, 2015, he was named head coach of the OHL's Owen Sound Attack. He was awarded the Matt Leyden Trophy as OHL Coach of the Year in April 2017. McGill stepped down as head coach in June 2017 to become an assistant head coach for the NHL expansion team, the Vegas Golden Knights.

On June 29, 2017, he was named an assistant coach with the Vegas Golden Knights. McGill and fellow assistant coach Steve Spott were let go by the Vegas Golden Knights in May 2022.

On July 29, 2022, McGill was named an assistant coach with the New Jersey Devils. On May 9, 2025, it was announced that McGill would not return to New Jersey.

On July 1, 2025, McGill was named an assistant coach with the Anaheim Ducks.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1984–85 Sherwood Park Crusaders AJHL — — — — — — — — — — 1985–86 Lethbridge Broncos WHL 64 5 10 15 171 10 0 1 1 9 1986–87 Swift Current Broncos WHL 72 12 36 48 226 4 1 0 1 9 1987–88 Medicine Hat Tigers WHL 67 5 30 35 224 15 7 3 10 47 1987–88 Medicine Hat Tigers M-Cup — — — — — 5 1 0 1 13 1988–89 Medicine Hat Tigers WHL 57 26 45 71 172 3 0 2 2 15 1988–89 Saginaw Hawks IHL 8 2 0 2 12 6 0 0 0 42 1989–90 Indianapolis Ice IHL 77 11 17 28 215 14 2 2 4 29 1990–91 Indianapolis Ice IHL 63 11 40 51 200 — — — — — 1990–91 Halifax Citadels AHL 7 0 4 4 6 — — — — — 1991–92 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 9 0 2 2 20 — — — — — 1991–92 Indianapolis Ice IHL 40 7 19 26 170 — — — — — 1991–92 Hershey Bears AHL 17 3 5 8 67 6 1 1 2 4 1992–93 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 72 3 10 13 238 — — — — — 1992–93 Hershey Bears AHL 4 0 2 2 26 — — — — — 1993–94 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 50 1 3 4 112 — — — — — 1994–95 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 12 0 0 0 13 — — — — — 1994–95 Edmonton Oilers NHL 8 0 0 0 8 — — — — — IHL totals 188 31 76 107 597 20 2 2 4 71 NHL totals 151 4 15 19 391 — — — — —