AHL Affiliates & News

[shotty 7]

I thought we'd see them put the farm in Abbottsford!

from the outside looking in, it seemed like the most obvious partnership.

i've heard that chilliwack is interested in getting an AHL franchise (chilliwack is about 30 min from Abbotsford), so that would give Vancouver another option down the road, and also create a little more buzz... currently, when abbotsford hosts home games, they play the same team back to back, with Chilliwack in the fold, visiting teams can play both and move on.

i've also heard rumors that Canucks Sports & Entertainment have seriously considered buying their own AHL franchise and operating it out of Rogers Arena... The major roadblock right now is securing or building a practice facility to reduce the strain on the building.

[noodle3872 40]

The Canuck/Wolves deal is short-term ending in 2013. The Calgary/Abby deal IIRC, ends the at the same time. I would expect things to change at that point.

BUT, with the Chilliwack Chiefs being resurrected this season, I would find it hard to believe Chilliwack could support both BCHL and AHL teams.

[shotty 7]

it would be one or the other and not a big deal to relocate the bruins... BCHL teams move all the time.

[GoBucky 0]

What are the advantages to an AHL team being affiliated with an NHL team? Do they get the NHL team's prospects without having to pay the player's salary? Do they get some sort of financial compensation from the NHL team for being an affiliate?

Also, how much say does the NHL team have in the day to day operation of the AHL team?

[RadioGaGa 162]

What are the advantages to an AHL team being affiliated with an NHL team? Do they get the NHL team's prospects without having to pay the player's salary? Do they get some sort of financial compensation from the NHL team for being an affiliate?

Also, how much say does the NHL team have in the day to day operation of the AHL team?

Players (who are not on 1 way contracts) have 2 salary levels. An NHL and an AHL salary, so yes...the AHL team roster is filled by the prospects of an NHL team without the AHL owner (assuming it isn't the NHL team) having any responsibility for those salaries. There are players that are signed by the AHL team, independent of the NHL parent. Those are often veteran players, but there are rules about how many 'veteran' players (players with 400+ pro games) there can be on a roster.

As far as the money to run the teams, and how much say the NHL team has in day-to-day is different in every affiliation. I'm sure that varies from team to team based on how involved the partnership is and what the ownership situation is for the AHL team.

Some teams are owned by the NHL team. For example: The Rochester Americans were recently purchased by Terry Peguala (Buffalo Sabres) and they will be very involved in the day-to-day ops of the AHL team. Other teams are owned locally and while they work in partnership with the NHL parent team, they are separate entities (other than the fact that the NHL team controls player movement). The owner of the Hamilton Bulldogs became part of the ownership group in Montreal when the Molson's bought from Gillet.

[shotty 7]

the coaching staff is usually on NHL club payroll too as that is the one of the most important parts of developing a teams prospects. When a full time NHL roster player falls to injury or a spot opens up for another reason, the head coach of the AHL affiliate will have been in communication with the head coach of the club and they will usually have coaching styles or direction that are in concert with each other to ensure that the player who comes up will be able to integrate into the systems as seamlessly as possible. It's often why the minor league coach is considered for the head coach job at the NHL level when that position becomes available.

[chippa13 1844]

If the NHL team owns it AHL affiliate, often times you will see the assistant GM of the NHL club serve as the GM of the AHL team. It also helps to keep tabs on how prospects coming along.

[freestyla 0]

Aside from the awkwardness of having an AHL affiliate in Chicago, the new relationship looks to be doing very well. The Wolves GM is in Vancouver for free agency (and prospect development camp presumably) to work with Mike Gillis on how to build the team moving forward especially since their team is basically starting from scratch after losing all of the Jets prospects. The Canucks have made several AHL signings already and the Wolves roster is taking shape. And, no offense to Winnipeg, but having an affiliate in a world class city like Chicago could help lure free agents.

At the end of the day I would still like to see the Canucks buy an AHL franchise so they can have [near] complete control of prospect development.

The Canuck/Wolves deal is short-term ending in 2013. The Calgary/Abby deal IIRC, ends the at the same time. I would expect things to change at that point.

BUT, with the Chilliwack Chiefs being resurrected this season, I would find it hard to believe Chilliwack could support both BCHL and AHL teams.

The Calgary/Abbotsford agreement was for ten years and they're only two years in. I'm not sure if there is an out clause but I know the Canucks affiliation agreement with the Moose was to end next season so Winnipeg managed to get out of that. Victoria would have been nice but, from what I've read, the WHL put high emphasis on getting that market before the AHL. They obviously succeeded.

[jds 20]

New Hamilton Bulldogs head coach

http://canadiens.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=569872