The Florida Everblades becomes STL's New ECHL Team

Published: July 10, 2024

Why choose Everblades over teams like KC or Bloomington?

Who Might Benefit With the Blues ECHL Affiliate Deal?

What is the ECHL/Florida Everblades?

The ECHL is short for the East Coast Hockey League and is basically a professional hockey league that although not controlled by the NHL, has connections to it (although the AHL and ECHL are the only two “minor” leagues recognized by the NHL collective bargaining agreement). Like AHL teams, NHL teams can affiliate with these ECHL teams and send players down to that league at will or can be designated to the league for the entirety of the season usually while the player is on his entry level contract. Currently, the ECHL has 29 teams just recently gaining a new franchise for the upcoming season in Bloomington, Illinois. In summary, you can basically call the ECHL the AA of hockey. Some prominent names have also started out in the ECHL though it is usually goalies with guys like Jonathan Quick and Jaroslav Halak being two of the biggest names.

The Blues have had connections to the ECHL but not recently. The most recent of these came in 2017 when the Blues partnered with the Tulsa Oilers (2017-2020). The Blues have also done deals with a variety of ECHL teams in the past such as the Kalamazoo Wings (2013-14), the Evansville Icemen (2012-13), the Alaska Aces (2005-12) and the still ECHL team at the time the Peoria Rivermen (2001-05).

The Florida Everblades can be described as one of the most successful ECHL teams of the 21st century. They are based in Estero, Florida (just south of Fort Myers) and are owned by David Hoffmann. The team is coached by former NHL Brad Ralph who played for the Phoenix Coyotes in the past. Ralph is also the GM of the Everblades. In terms of team success, the Everblades have only failed to qualify for the playoffs once in franchise history (2013-14) and have won the ECHL champions, the Kelly Cup, 4 times in 2012, 2022, 2023, and 2024.

Why even have an ECHL affiliate?

Obviously, with the league only having 29 teams, not every team in the NHL will be able to have an affiliate. The Blues were one of those teams til now but that is not to say the Blues have not used the ECHL. Usually, the Blues will assign players recently signed from a prospect camp or are completely new to the organization to an ECHL team on a interleague loan. This gives the player a chance to play and learn professional hockey but still be able to play against younger players. An example of this would be the case of Jeremie Biakabutuka for the Blues last year. Biakabutuka impressed in prospect camp but was not ready for the AHL but could not go back to playing junior hockey in the CHL. Instead of being a healthy scratch for Springfield every night, Biakabutuka was able to play 63 regular season games and 11 playoff games for the Orlando Solar Bears last year.

Why choose Everblades over teams like KC or Bloomington?

Although most NHL teams prefer minor league affiliates that are close to the NHL team, that is not to say it is a necessity. Most teams like to have AHL teams close together so if a player is called up or sent down, they can easily get back and forth from teams easily. However, usually ECHL assignments are season long so the need to constantly change locations.

Although the team might not be midwestern natives, the front office certainly is. Although now living in Naples, Florida, the teams owner, David Hoffmann, is a Missouri native making his name in the real estate business.

Finally the teams success is probably a main contributor to making this move. SImply put, if you are finally going to affiliate yourself long term to a team, you might as well make it the best team. Ralph coaching cannot be denied being a back to back to back Kelly Cup champion. We will see how he helps future Blues prospects develop.

Who Might Benefit With the Blues ECHL Affiliate Deal?

Unlike most NHL teams, the Blues have essentially used up all of there contract spots alluded using 49/50 contracts. Even with some of these players under contract sliding down to the CHL or Europe, there will be plenty of players who won’t be able to find starting time even in the AHL. That is where the ECHL comes in. If we have another case in which a player like Biakabutuka makes the team out of training camp, they will have a place to easily go.

Usually, the players who come out of the ECHL are goalies and the Blues have a surplus already. You really only need 2 goalies per team but the Thunderbirds are stuck with 3 with Zherenko, Ellis, and Cranley all battling for time in Springfield. Out of all these players, I expect Cranley will be the one to make the move to Florida playing the majority of games for the Everblades.

Age outs can also be an issue for some prospects. The Blues might have already given a draft pick a contract but are beginning to realize to late that the player will be a late bloomer at best and is not ready for the AHL but is to old to go back to the CHL. Rather then forcing the player overseas, the ECHL can be an easy way for the Blues to keep track of the player while also allowing them to call the player up to the AHL if they believe the player is up for it.

Finally, Europeans might have a big benefit for this move. Most European players play in olympic style hockey rinks and going from that to the much smaller NHL rinks can be an interesting transition. The Blues have recently begun signing players directly from Europe more often with guys like Samuel Johannesson and Marcus Sylvegard making the jump recently. A move to the ECHL for these or other European players would make sense as it gives the players time to adjust to NHL and Blues standards while also playing in a less stressful atmosphere compared to the AHL.

Closing Thoughts:

There is nothing wrong with having more affiliates. Realistically, the Blues are not going to send many players to Florida. However, the Blues have used an ECHL team in the past and it allows them to be more connected with the league, the prospects in the ECHL, and ECHL scouting as a whole. Fans have been clamoring for another affiliate for a while and although it isn’t an easy place to get to, it is something that has been given. Overall, there’s nothing wrong with this move one bit and gives the Blues more flexibility while giving the fans another team to root for.

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