There is a new ECHL team coming into the league next season: Tahoe Lake Monsters in Nevada. While nothing is "official" yet, this will be the Vegas Golden Knights/Henderson Silver Knights affiliate.

Currently VGK had signed a one-year deal with the Savannah Ghost Pirates for the current season. There is nothing announced, or rumored that I can find, about who they will affiliate with.

There are currently 4 NHL teams and 1 AHL team that do not have affiliations:

No AHL or ECHL team:
Carolina Hurricanes

No ECHL affiliate:
St. Louis Blues (AHL: Springfield Thunderbirds)
Columbus Blue Jackets (AHL: Cleveland Monsters)
Arizona Coyotes (AHL: Tucson Roadrunners)

No NHL affiliate:
AHL: Chicago Wolves
ECHL: Savannah Ghost Pirates

While many of the affiliation agreements are one or two year term there is not enough published to detail them all here; only those that are known to be ending for certain.

These teams seem to have well developed and logistically intact affiliations:
Pittsburgh <-> Wilkes-Barre/Scranton <-> Wheeling (25+ years affiliation between 3!)
Detroit <-> Grand Rapids <-> Toledo
Montreal <-> Laval <-> Trois-Rivières
Boston <-> Providence <-> Maine
Colorado <-> Colorado (Loveland) <-> Utah
Philadelphia <-> Lehigh Valley <-> Reading
New Jersey <-> Utica <-> Adirondack NY
Minnesota <-> Iowa <-> Iowa
Chicago <-> Rockford <-> Indianapolis
Vegas <-> Henderson <-> Lake Tahoe
Toronto <-> Toronto <-> Newfoundland
NYI <-> Bridgeport <-> Worcester
Florida <-> Charlotte <-> Estero, FL
Washington <-> Hershey <-> South Carolina

These teams have a good relationship but some logistical issues:
Vancouver <-> Abbotsford <-> Kalamazoo, MI (off and on affiliation)
Edmonton <-> Bakersfield <-> Fort Wayne, IN
Ottawa <-> Belleville <-> Allen, TX
Calgary <-> Calgary <-> Rapid City, SD
Seattle <-> Coachella <-> Kansas City
NYR <-> Harford <-> Cincinnati
Winnipeg <-> Winnipeg <-> Norfolk
Nashville <-> Milwaukee <-> Atlanta
LA <-> Ontario, CA <-> Greenville
Buffalo <-> Rochester <-> Jacksonville
Anaheim <-> San Diego <-> Tulsa
San Jose <-> San Jose <-> Wichita
Tampa <-> Syracuse <-> Orlando
Dallas <-> Austin <-> Boise

Rumors
ECHL stated Expansion focus is to be at 32 teams grow in the west.
Arizona rumors are Reno, NV due to Merulo connection and a new arena being built there.

I'd like to see Jacksonville Icemen get "promoted" to the AHL and become the Lightning AHL affiliate and then Syracuse Crunch become AHL affiliate for the Carolina Hurricanes.

This would line up the AHL pretty well with logistics and each team having an AHL squad.
The ECHL would then need to expand by 4 teams to get to 32 and play musical chairs to improve logistics.

There aren't any credible AHL rumors that I've seen for Carolina. Anyone know anything or hear anything substantial on AHL/ECHL expansion/affiliation changes?

OK well there is some news a day after I posted this:

ECHL approves Expansion Membership for Bloomington, Illinois

and if you get a chance to lookup the ECHL All-Stars Classic game highlights, it is worthy for the trick shots those guys pulled off. Matt Brown (front Lacrosse goal) and Brandon Hawkins (spin-a-rama puck drag) especially.

I really wish we got the Cyclones instead of the Rags, it would make the most sense to go from Cincy to Cleveland to Columbus.

Akron would be a good place for an expansion team. There's James A. Rhodes Arena on campus at Akron University, and at 5,500 seats, it wouldn't be the smallest in the league, but that's still kinda small, especially compared to Heritage Bank Center in Cincinnati.

I could see the new Bloomington team going to either St. Louis or Columbus; but I really think there is going to be some major musical chairs on affiliations soon.

Carolina's AHL team could set some of that in motion too. I suspect the Savannah Ghost Pirates will get "promoted" to AHL or Jacksonville Icemen but nothing seems to be leaking out about it.

Interested in what logistical issues you were thinking for Caps->hershey->SC, since Hershey has been with Washington since 2005 and SC has been with Washington from 2004-2012 and 2015-since. Concern about the lack of an affiliation extension with Hershey?

Yeah it was borderline in which category to put them but in comparison to most arrangements I should have put them in the higher tier as their long relationship should be enough to offset risk of change

Shortly after posting, a new extension was announced through the 2029-30 season

Interesting article on the Carolina Hurricanes AHL situation:

Details On Carolina's Attempt To Purchase AHL Expansion Franchise, AHL 'State of the League' Updates From President/CEO Scott Howson & More

Doesn't sound promising for Carolina, but the powers that be want a reunion:

So where do the Chicago Wolves and Carolina Hurricanes stand right now?

"...there's a lot of people working on this - including at the AHL level and at the NHL level - trying to find a solution to this problem, because, quite frankly, it's not sustainable. It's not sustainable for either league. It's not sustainable for the Chicago Wolves and it certainly isn't sustainable for the Carolina Hurricanes." - AHL President/CEO Scott Howson

"Everyone is trying to find a way for [Carolina and Chicago] to be affiliated. Not looking good now. Tomorrow might be different," one trusted AHL source told InsideAHLHockey.com back in February.

If Canada loses both ECHL teams I will be devastated, especially as a fan of the Growlers.

An unfortunate situation going on there. Can't believe there isn't better compliance to stop these issues from getting so big that it could cause two teams to suspend operations. Hopefully something will rise from the ashes without losing any seasons.

It seems from what I read to be from the owner owing money for the Lions, the Growlers are just a casualty of that, I haven't seen any actual reason for the Growlers to fold besides of who owns them.

Yeah I don't think they'll fold; sounds like the league will find a new owner (which does come with long-term risks of relocation of course).

Well more bad news today for Newfoundland. Sounds like they had a buyer but it was rejected and they have cease operations. Hopefully there will be enough interest to revive the team for next season and beyond but guess it's not looking to good right now. Who knows if the buyer and/or offer was legitimate and sustainable but sounds like the old owner will take the hit for now. Probably only the town and hockey community will suffer the true loss of the team and the actual owners.

Jeff Marek show had Seth Cooper on today talking about the situation too

It’s honestly disgusting how the Growlers were affected by the owners owing money for 3Riviers. This had nothing to do with the Growlers themselves yet they’re the ones who get dumped. I’m genuinely disgusted with how this played out and it’s honestly embarrassing for the ECHL.

I agree. The ECHL could not have done anything else wrong. First of all, I would have assumed that the ECHL would have had rules in place to prevent the same organization from owning multiple franchises and a Conflict of Interest. We saw that the NHL forced Andlauer to sell his stake in the Habs before taking ownership of the Sens. Second, it should have been 3Rivers that ceased operations because they were the ones that owned money. The Growlers should not have been a casualty of 3Rivers mismanagement.
Third, the Growlers had been around for longer and actually had success winning Division titles, a conference title, and a Kelly Cup, while 3R just started a few years ago and has struggled to make the playoffs.

I agree with everything you've said, additionally, the Growlers have a better attendance in general to go along with it.

From afar, it appears that the reason the Growlers ceased operations is because the Sale offer was not accepted or not acceptable by the ECHL. The current owner is obviously out, so if there is no new owner for the franchise it will cease. I think the questions should come up about whether or not an ownership group for an ECHL can be found in time to save the pro hockey for the community.

From the reporting Seth Cooper has done, it sounds like the other ECHL owners are not really excited to save the location due to the travel costs.

I don’t understand though, wouldn’t a sale be better than ceasing operations? (Unless the sale was like outright outlandish)

Thanks for the info. Apparently, the owner sold 3R to become league-owned and they will search for a new owner. I'm not sure why 3R got that option, but NL was terminated despite the 2 teams being in the same situation. I can understand wanting to mitigate travel costs, but I'd be surprised if the travel costs outweigh the additional revenue for having the only pro sports team in NL, and a successful one at that.

I wonder how much revenue sharing there is amongst ECHL teams/owners or how they have/could mitigate the travel costs.

Yeah I don't know, haven't seen any of the details be discussed.

Neither have I, I guess we'll just have to wait for details to emerge, if they ever will be public

Given the news about Arizona Coyotes NHL team relocating to Salt Lake City; there are questions that arise regarding the "trickle-down" effect on AHL and ECHL teams. Some of the rumors state that the former owner of the Coyotes, Alex Meruelo, will continue to own the AHL team located in Tucson but move them to Phoenix as tenants of Mullett Arena. No clarity on if that means automatic affiliation with the SLC NHL team yet. Will it be the Roadrunners or the Coyotes? Something else... The Kachinas?

https://gophnx.com/what-is-the-roadrunners-future-in-arizona/

Teams affected:
Arizona Coyotes (NHL) -> Tucson Roadrunners (AHL) -> no ECHL affiliate but rumors were that a team would be placed in Reno, NV when the arena is built there (stop me if you've heard that before).
Colorado Avalanche (NHL) -> Colorado Eagles (AHL) -> Utah Grizzlies (ECHL)

Would the teams do right by Tucson and place an ECHL team there during the 5 year window for Arizona to get a new NHL team?

Also, there is an existing ECHL team in Salt Lake City suburb of West Valley City; the Grizzlies which are an Avalanche affiliate (relocated to SLC area from Denver after the Avs came to town).

Avs probably do not want their ECHL team in the backyard of a division rival. There is an unlikely long-term situation that sees both an ECHL and NHL team sharing the market in SLC.

I am really optimistic that the Avs will get an ECHL team in Colorado Springs, CO (World Arena has no anchor tenant) or even Albuquerque, NM.

Not really new news but does provide a bit of clarity until official announcements:

https://kslnewsradio.com/2095231/what-happens-to-the-grizzlies-if-nhl-comes-to-utah/

States that the Grizzlies (ECHL) Avalanche affiliation will likely expire after the 2024-25 season.