ECHL affiliations are like a game of musical chairs, being that the league has 30 teams, while the NHL and AHL each have 32.
The music has stopped, and the Utah Mammoth have lost their seat.
In 2024-25, the Mammoth and their AHL affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners, were paired with the ECHL’s Allen Americans. It was a one-year agreement, and the two sides decided not to renew it.
Instead, the Americans have rejoined the Ottawa Senators organization.
The Allen Americans are no longer the Utah Mammoth’s ECHL affiliate.
No word yet on Utah’s new affiliate, if there is one. https://t.co/vQn85sBSY3
— Brogan Houston (@houston_brogan) August 27, 2025
In a July 3 press conference, Mammoth president of hockey operations Chris Armstrong said that they had a “good working relationship” with the Americans and that they were “in talks with them to continue.”
The Mammoth did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday, but one scenario could be that they go without an ECHL affiliate for the 2025-26 season.
What happens now?
When an NHL team needs to call a player up, the player most often comes from the AHL. The AHL team then recalls someone from the ECHL to fill that gap.
Assuming they don’t join forces with an ECHL squad, the Roadrunners won’t have their own farm team. Instead, their backup players will be loaned to them by other ECHL teams. That’s what both the Belleville Senators (Ottawa Senators) and the Cleveland Monsters (Columbus Blue Jackets) did last year as the only teams without affiliates.
Does this affect the Utah Grizzlies?
The Utah Grizzlies, the ECHL affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche, announced in June that they are up for sale, and that they will likely move away from West Valley City.
While it seems logical on the surface for Smith Entertainment Group to buy the team and affiliate with it, it wouldn’t help the NHL team as much as one might think.
Teams can greatly benefit from having their AHL affiliates close by because it cuts down travel costs and it allows management to watch their prospects in person on a regular basis. But players are never recalled directly from the ECHL to the NHL, so it wouldn’t simplify much for the Mammoth.
That said, Armstrong did mention the Grizzlies in his July 3 press conference. How much to read into it remains to be determined.
“With the recent news about the Grizzlies and whatnot, and a lot of speculation around us, we really haven’t had time to consider anything else,” he said.