Carolina Hurricanes: Top 3 ECHL Teams the Hurricanes Should Affiliate With
The Carolina Hurricanes are on the hunt for a new ECHL Affiliate after the Florida Everblades have decided to affiliate with the Nashville Predators for the 2019-20 season.
In a move that was shocking to most, the Florida Everblades made the decision to switch affiliation from the Carolina Hurricanes to the Nashville Predators for the 2019-20 season.
The Everblades are coming off of one of their best seasons in franchise history, turning in a record of 50-16-5-1 to mark the third-highest regular season win total in franchise history. The Everblades have been a force to be reckoned with in the ECHL; they’ve made the playoffs every single year but one since their inception. Six of these campaigns have resulted in advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals.
This leaves the Carolina Hurricanes in a tough, albeit potentially advantageous, spot. The players that the Hurricanes have under contract would leave the Everblades and depart for whichever team they decide to affiliate with going into next season. Seeing as how the Hurricanes have two solid goaltenders at the ECHL level, any of these teams would benefit from the added help in the crease.
#Blades enter affiliation agreement with @PredsNHL, starting with 2019-20 season.
— Florida Everblades (@FL_Everblades) May 24, 2019
Read more: https://t.co/VxiZKJGpXX#EverRising pic.twitter.com/o23SEqkZL9
This leaves us with the all-important question: Which ECHL team should the Hurricanes choose as their affiliate? There are a few ECHL teams who are not affiliated with an AHL or NHL team, but I know of three teams that would be a great fit for an up-and-coming NHL team looking to finally establish themselves as a dynasty.
Atlanta Gladiators
The Atlanta Gladiators would make an attractive option for the Hurricanes to pursue as an ECHL affiliate. Whereas the Everblades have made the playoffs 20 out of 21 seasons, the Gladiators have made the playoffs 9 out of the past 16 seasons.
The Gladiators aren’t quite as elite as the Everblades; they were swept in the first round of the ECHL playoffs by none other than the Everblades during the 2017-18 season. However, Atlanta still remains, to me, a solid option to explore for affiliation due to the proximity to both Charlotte and Raleigh.
The Gladiators have a solid roster that could benefit greatly from the help of the Hurricanes’ prospects Callum Booth and Jeremy Helvig that would draw into their lineup from the Everblades roster.
Atlanta does have its faults, however. Not only has the team struggled advancing past the first round of the ECHL playoffs, it has struggled to find consistent success in years past, missing the playoffs five out of the past six years. Atlanta is currently affiliated with the Boston Bruins, and thus remains the least attractive option of the three listed.
South Carolina Stingrays
The South Carolina Stingrays come in at #2 on this list. The Stingrays would be arguably the most attractive option were it not for their current affiliation status. The Stingrays are affiliated with the Washington Capitals, and it would be a difficult task to lure them away from their current setup.
That being said, the Stingrays are one of the more elite teams in the ECHL. Having made the playoffs in 25 of their 26 seasons, the Stingrays are a minor-league dynasty.
The Hurricanes could benefit off of having every team in the organization located in the ‘Carolinas region’, as well. The South Carolina Stingrays are located in Charleston, SC; this is quite a distance from both Charlotte and Raleigh, but would still tie in the ‘One Carolina’ mentality that has permeated both North and South Carolina in the past few years.
The Stingrays, in my opinion, would be a great organization to bring into the fold. Our developing prospects wouldn’t have as far to travel between call-ups, and the elite, winning mentality and culture that the Stingrays have cultivated would no doubt be a deciding factor in the success of developing younger players.
My one caveat with this option would be that the Stingrays not only already have an affiliation with the Hurricanes’ main rivals. If only there were a team in the ‘Carolinas’ that didn’t have an affiliate and was even closer to Charlotte and Charleston…
Greenville Swamp Rabbits
The Greenville Swamp Rabbits are an obvious shoe-in for the #1 spot for me. Not only am I a huge fan of the team, but they have brought hockey back to Greenville, SC in a big way. Since the Grrrowl left in the mid-2000’s, hockey was virtually non-existent in the area.
The former Greenville Road Warriors came to town in 2011 (since renamed the Swamp Rabbits in 2015 to tie in relevancy to the local Swamp Rabbit Trail) and made the playoffs in their first season of contention before losing in the second round. Hockey found new life in Greenville, which in turn spurned a huge influx of fans looking to find an NHL team to support after finding themselves enjoying local hockey at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena.
I did my part to ensure these new fans followed the right team (the Hurricanes, obviously), and a vast majority of these fans are still huge Hurricanes fans to this day.
Not only would affiliating with the Swamp Rabbits keep the ‘One Carolina’ mantra in full effect, but it would pull even more local fans from the upstate into the Hurricanes fan base.
Greenville is roughly 2 hours from Charlotte and about 4 hours or so from Raleigh, so local fans could easily make the trip to either arena and help to boost attendance. This affiliation would unite the region like never before, and create a triangle of hockey from West to East.
The best part of this idea? Greenville does not have an NHL affiliate. The team decided to forego an affiliation for this season, effectively breaking the ties they held with the New York Rangers. The integration of the team into the Hurricanes organization would be near seamless.
This might sound like I’m being a homer (I definitely am), but it would serve as a way to include South Carolina in the hockey market that Raleigh and Charlotte have built over the past two decades. The Hurricanes have a great opportunity to grow the game in yet another ‘non-traditional hockey market’, and I can think of no better ECHL team to affiliate with.
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Question for CC Readers: What other ECHL team(s) do you think the Hurricanes should consider?