A headache for the Rangers & Wolf Pack: Maine Mariners opt out of the 2020-21 season

The New York Rangers farm team in the ECHL has decided not to play this season

The New York Rangers’ ECHL farm team, the Maine Mariners, was one of six teams to announce that they were opting out of the coming season.  That makes seven ECHL teams that will not play games while the COVID-19 pandemic is wracking North America.  All have announced that they plan on resuming play in the 2021-22 season.

Without a lucrative television rights deal, leagues like the ECHL depend on ticket sales to generate revenue.  Without fans in the stands and without NHL ownership, trying to play in 2020-21 will be a hardship for all ECHL teams.

It sounds weird, but the Mariners are actually owned by the Philadelphia Flyers.  Their top executive is Flyers advisor Paul Holmgren and their general manager is former NHL player Daniel Briere. Their coach is former player Riley Armstrong.   The Flyers’ ECHL affiliate are the Reading Royals who have also opted out of the 2020-21 season.

The players on the teams that won’t play have become unrestricted free agents and will be fighting for jobs.  It won’t be easy for them.

There are 26 teams in the ECHL and 25 have affiliations with NHL teams.  The Rangers announced their working relationship with the Mariners in April 2018 and numerous players under contract to New York have seen action with the Mariners.

What does it mean for the Rangers?

It’s very early to predict what impact this will have on the Rangers.  A lot depends on the NHL’s return to play plan.   What it definitely means that without an ECHL affiliate, the competition for a slot with the Hartford Wolf Pack will be more fierce.  There’s nothing to prevent the Rangers from assigning a player to another ECHL team as long as they can work out an arrangement.

Last season a number of players  under contract to the Rangers played in Maine.  They included goalie Adam Huska, defensemen Dawson Leedahl, Sean Day and Brandon Crawley and forwards Ryan Gropp, Ty Ronning and Jake Elmer.  There were also a number of players under contract to the Wolf Pack who saw playing time in Maine.

More from Rangers News

• Blake Wheeler’s Broadway Calling: Why He Chose the Rangers
• Rangers’ Playoff Redemption Recipe: Grit and Fresh Hopes
• Brennan Othmann and Will Cuylle Set to Shine in the NHLPA Rookie Showcase
• Chris Kreider has had quite the Summer
• Andy Hosler Takes Helm as Head Athletic Trainer for the New York Rangers, Succeeding Jim Ramsay

Maine is considered the equivalent of a AA farm team with the Wolf Pack the AAA version.  The real impact will be that the Rangers and Wolf Pack will have to be more careful about how they assign players.  They won’t have the luxury of sending a player to Maine when there is a roster squeeze.  An example would be last season when the Wolf Pack sent Adam Huska to the ECHL to get some work in.  He only played three games.

The issue this season would be that the Rangers have three goalies under contract in Keith Kinkaid, Huska and Tyler Wall.  Without a Maine affiliate, they will have to use a three goalie system in Hartford unless they can loan one of their goalies to another ECHL or AHL team.

To make it even more complicated, the AHL has announced that they won’t be starting play until February 5 whereas the Mariners were going to start in mid-January.  It means a lot of roster maneuvering for Jeff Gorton and Hartford GM Chris Drury.

Some options

There’s been no official reaction from the Rangers to the announcement from the  ECHL.    There are some options. The Rangers could try to “share” an ECHL affiliation with another NHL team.   NHL teams could work with the AHL and expand rosters so that more players would be allowed to remain with the AAA teams.  Since many AHL teams are owned, or share ownership with their NHL parent teams, that is possible.  There’s also a chance that the NHL will expand rosters due to the pandemic.

At the same time, while it makes it more difficult for the Blueshirts, keep in mind that seven NHL teams don’t have an ECHL affiliate and make do with just their one AHL team.

It’s just another challenge that has to be worked out as a result of the pandemic.  The NHL and the NHLPA are working overtime to figure out how to get the 2020-21 season going.  Minor league hockey is just another consideration they have to take on.