Training camps are opening in ECHL cities across North America, an exciting time for fans tracking the best prospects, best teams and ever-changing landscape of Double-A hockey.

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Here’s a look at 10 storylines to ponder as camps open and we near the start of the regular season Oct. 18.

Expansion Teams

Two new teams have entered the ECHL – the Tahoe Knight Monsters and Bloomington Bison – and both have surprisingly strong rosters for expansion teams.

The ECHL’s quest to get to 32 teams, one for every NHL team, hit a bump when the league removed the Newfoundland Growlers last season for failure to pay bills. But the addition of the Knight Monsters and Bison brings the ECHL to 29 member teams.

The resulting divisional realignment is going to take some getting used to. While it’s nice that Tahoe and Bloomington give the teams in the west needed geographic opponents (Tahoe is in the Mountain Division and Bloomington is in the Central), Wheeling moving to the North Division from the Central doesn’t feel right at all.

ECHL Beefs Up Roster Size

The league expanded its in-game lineup size from 19 players (17 skaters and two goalies) to 20 players, and it’s going to be intriguing to see how coaches utilize it.

Many coaches seem poised to give the fans exactly what they want – more enforcers – as the ECHL has more players like Daniel Amesbury (Kansas City), Nico Blachman (Iowa), Anthony Collins (Tahoe) and Yanick Turcotte (Fort Wayne) willing to drop the gloves than it did last season.

But the ECHL salary cap hasn’t been greatly increased – it’s $15,130 per week for the first 30 days of the season and $14,600 the rest of the season, up from $14,870/$14,350 – so maybe some teams will choose not to invest much in that spot, opting to load the salary into the top 17 skaters.

First day back in the office 🚂#RailersHC pic.twitter.com/fJaA0AX3sT

— Worcester Railers (@RailersHC) October 7, 2024

Kansas City Tries To Sustain Its Success 

The Mavericks were the ECHL’s best team in the 2023-2024 regular season – they were 54-12-6 with the No. 1 offense and No. 3 defense – before they lost to the Florida Everblades in the Kelly Cup Finals.

Part of the Mavericks’ success stemmed from all the help they got from the NHL’s Seattle Kraken and AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds, such as Patrick Curry, Jacob Hayhurst, Max Andreev, Jack LaFontaine and Cale Morris.

This season, Kansas City has the beginnings of a strong roster – highlighted by David Cotton and Marcus Crawford – but the presumption is the Mavericks again will be loaded up by Coachella Valley once AHL training camps are over.

The Mavericks had better be, if they want to repeat their success of last season.

Norfolk Admirals On The Rise

The Admirals were the feel-good story of last season, reaching the playoffs for the first time in their history. In fact, it was the first time they finished better than fifth in their division; they were second last season and lost to Adirondack in the North Division Finals.

Norfolk made some good additions in the offseason, such as forwards Kameron Kielly, Sanghoon Shin and Pavlo Padakin, and it maintained a good portion of its nucleus. It looks like the early North Division favorite.

Star Players On The Move

Even for the ECHL, where player movement is the norm, there were a lot of high-end players changing teams – but not necessarily to go overseas.

Alex Kile went from the Maine Mariners to the Florida Everblades. Alex Aleardi went from the Rapid City Rush to the Fort Wayne Komets. Jalen Smereck went from the Cincinnati Cyclones to the division-rival Toledo Walleye. Patrick Guay went from the Savannah Ghost Pirates to Maine. Tristan Ashbrook was traded to Cincinnati from the Adirondack Thunder. Colton Hargrove went from the Allen Americans to Florida. Brayden Watts went from the Wichita Thunder to Allen.

Whew, and that’s just some of the really big ones.

Not all the huge moves are going to work out, but it’s going to be fun to watch how they all play out.

#ECHL Transactions - Oct. 6https://t.co/petnl9nXcJ

— ECHL (@ECHL) October 6, 2024

Cincinnati Cyclones’ New Affiliation

The Cyclones, who missed the playoffs in a wildly disappointing season, one certainly not aided by injuries, have entered into an affiliation agreement with the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs.

That could be big, since the Maple Leafs used to absolutely stack the late Newfoundland Growlers with NHL- and AHL-contracted players.

It seems as if the Maple Leafs won’t be sending quite so much help to Cincinnati, which has put together a solid roster of ECHL-contracted players. 

Returning are Justin Vaive, Louie Caporusso and Lincoln Griffin, along with newcomers Tristan Ashbrook, Matthew Boudens, Matt Murphy, Keeghan Howdeshell and Dante Sheriff.

That alone is a good start, but if the Maple Leafs send a healthy batch of high-level prospects, the Cyclones could be back in the mix for a division championship.

Utah Grizzlies Vs. NHL Market

So, there’s an NHL team in town. Well, honestly, one town over. 

The Utah Hockey Club plays in Salt Lake City, and the Grizzlies play in West Valley City.

Competing with an NHL team in the vicinity may not be easy for the Grizzlies, and the best thing they can do right now is win – especially after falling in the first round of the playoffs last season, on the heels of a trip to the 2023 Western Conference Finals.

The Grizzlies ranked ninth in average ECHL attendance last season with 6,003 fans per game, and that’s a number to watch closely once the NHL and ECHL regular seasons are in full force.

Kalamazoo Wings’ Overhaul

Last season seemed a massive step forward for the Wings, who reached the playoffs for the first time since 2019, but they lost a ton of big names over the summer – such as Erik Bradford, Justin Taylor, Chaz Reddekopp, Josh Passolt and David Keefer.

Quinn Preston will be an interesting player to watch, after he was acquired from Wichita last season and had three goals and 10 points in 16 games for the Wings, but can he get back to being the point-a-game player of 2022-23? 

Jon Martin, who had 23 goals and 35 points last season for the division-rival Indy Fuel, is going to have to be even more productive.

Kalamazoo thrived with a blue-collar game last season, and it brought in the players to replicate that style. But such a massive overhaul just when the Wings were hitting their stride has to be creating nervousness for the fans in Kalamazoo.

Divisional Parity

A great argument in recent years has been this: What’s the ECHL’s strongest division?

Historically, it had been the Central, but over the last couple years, the South – headed by the three-time defending champion Florida Everblades – has overtaken it.

But look out, the North Division, paced by the Adirondack Thunder and Norfolk Admirals, made it even closer last season. And the Mountain Division has been top heavy lately, led by Kansas City and the Idaho Steelheads, but the addition of Tahoe, and an overhaul in Allen, could help change that.

Could this be the season all four divisions are equally strong? I don’t think we’re there yet – the Central and South are stacked again – but we’re getting closer.

Happy National Coaches Day🏒👏@kc_mavericks @KalamazooWings @WheelingNailers @FL_Everblades pic.twitter.com/BzxPBZt02z

— ECHL (@ECHL) October 6, 2024

Rise As Developmental Circuit

The ECHL’s relationship with NHL and AHL teams seemed stronger than ever last season – every roster was littered with contracted players – and 12 ECHL alumni made their NHL debuts.

And it’s not just the players. 

Look at the former ECHL coaches who have had NHL success lately: Spencer Carbery (Capitals), Jared Bednar (Avalanche), Ryan Warsofsky (Sharks) and Bruce Cassidy (Golden Knights).  

The relationship between the ECHL and higher-level teams should continue to strengthen, as the ECHL tried to get to one franchise for every NHL club, but it would be nice if the NHL lent more help when it comes to officiating at this level.

When Does The 2024-2025 ECHL Season Start?

The 2024-25 ECHL season begins on Oct. 18. Each game will stream live and on demand on FloHockey starting with the Reading Royals vs. the Trois-Riviéres Lions at 7 p.m. ET.

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