Blues Announce New ECHL Affiliation

Every summer, there are at least one or two AHL/ECHL affiliation changes. The Islanders’ upheaval of their feeder system, highlighted by their choice to relocate their longstanding AHL club in Bridgeport to Hamilton, Ontario, left their ECHL affiliate since 2017, the Worcester Railers, without a parent for next season as well.

That’s changed now, as Worcester will serve under the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds as the Blues’ secondary minor-league affiliate through at least the 2030-31 season, the team announced. It’s the first affiliation change in Worcester’s history; their inception coincided with the beginning of their initial agreement with the Islanders.

Worcester never yielded any skaters for the Islanders, who ended up climbing the ladder all the way to the NHL, but there were a handful of goaltenders who came in the system. The most impactful among that group actually did so, ironically, while a member of the Blues organization. Colten Ellis, who was lost on waivers to the Sabres at the beginning of the season, was a third-round pick by St. Louis in 2019 and spent the vast majority of his first professional season on loan to Worcester while the Blues’ didn’t have a full-time affiliate, posting a .905 SV% in 34 games for them in the 2021-22 campaign.

In fact, the agreement marks the first time the Blues will have an ECHL affiliate after concluding their partnership with the Tulsa Oilers when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. They’ve spent the last six years without one, but as the ECHL now sits at 30 teams, there’s room for them on the carousel to jump back in.

It’s a smart logistical move for the Blues. They have one of the most distant AHL affiliates in the league, with over 1,100 miles separating St. Louis and Springfield, Massachusetts, but they’ll now at least have their two minor-league feeders located in the same state to make life easier on both of them.