The ECHL recently had its Summer Meetings and the Board of Governors last week in Las Vegas, Nevada, and earlier this afternoon, the league announced two new changes for the league heading into the 2024-25 season as well as Utah Grizzlies CEO Kevin Bruder being re-elected as the Chairman of the Board for the fourth straight season.
Increase To The Two Referee System
After two seasons of the league running with the two-referee system for 25% of the games, it will increase to 50% beginning next season. There’s no doubt that the league wants to eventually be able to go to a two-referee system for every game, but this is a gradual step in the right direction for the ECHL. The AHL and NHL are currently running a two-referee system for all of the games in the two leagues above the ECHL. As the ECHL is a development league for the AHL and NHL, having a two-man system will also allow the players to get used to what they will be seeing when they get called up from the ECHL.
Increase in Roster Size
The ECHL is expanding its roster from 17 skaters to 18 skaters for next season, which is the roster size in the NHL as well. This is huge for the ECHL, as prior to this change, teams weren’t allowed to have four full lines of forwards and three defensive pairings, but now they will. This will allow more players to get playing time and will be a huge asset to the AHL teams, which will be sending players down to their ECHL affiliates over the course of the season. It’s going to be very interesting to see how ECHL coaches adapt to having an extra player in their lineup for the 2024-25 season.
