The Carolina Hurricanes Options Without An AHL Affiliate

The Carolina Hurricanes have found themselves in a very interesting scenario heading into the 2023-24 season, as they are without an AHL and ECHL affiliate after the Chicago Wolves decided to go independent, and the Norfolk Admirals just signed an affiliation agreement with the Winnipeg Jets. It’s not unheard of for teams to go without an ECHL affiliate as there are only 28 ECHL teams compared to the 32 NHL and AHL teams, so teams make do without and end up sending guys to other team’s affiliates. However, the Hurricanes will be the only team without an AHL affiliate, which raises many issues on the surface.

Last season, the Manitoba Moose, the Jets AHL Affiliate, didn’t have an ECHL affiliate, so they lent their players to the two Canadian ECHL teams, the Trois-Rivieres Lions and the Newfoundland Growlers, which made sense, seeing that all three teams were in Canada. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Canes go with a similar option and maybe explore the possibility of sending their guys to one or two ECHL teams to help solve that problem. However, the Kansas City Mavericks would make a lot of sense, as they are affiliated with the Seattle Kraken and don’t have a deep prospect pool and could help add some AHL experience that is needed for an ECHL club. The distance between isn’t awful when looking at some ECHL and AHL clubs (Yes, I’m looking at you, Norfolk, and Manitoba).

The Hurricanes have not announced what they will do with all of their AHL players, which raises some more questions about what they will do for the upcoming season. One of the options would be to approach it the same way they would with no ECHL affiliate, but that then would push more guys down to the ECHL, which wouldn’t be ideal for whatever ECHL receives players from Carolina. No matter how you look at it, the Hurricanes are in a tough spot, and it will be interesting to see how they approach the upcoming season and what kind of effect it has on the players and teams being affected.