A pair of former Avalanche players will be sticking around the organization. The team announced that Andrew Cogliano has been appointed as a Special Assistant to General Manager Chris MacFarland while Pavel Francouz is now a Goaltending Scout. Cogliano retired in May after a 17-year NHL career spanning nearly 1,300 NHL appearances, the last three of which were spent with the Avs. Francouz, meanwhile, was supposed to be the backup to Alexandar Georgiev last season but didn’t play due to a lower-body injury. He unofficially served in a scouting capacity during the season and now has had that role formalized.
More from the Central:
- Still with the Avalanche, Corey Masisak of The Denver Post wonders if they might wait until training camp to add another netminder as they did last season when they picked up Ivan Prosvetov off waivers. Notably, Justus Annunen is now waiver-eligible and wouldn’t be a lock to clear after putting up a 2.25 GAA and a .928 SV% in 14 appearances last season. However, with the team set to have some extra cap flexibility to start the year with Valeri Nichushkin not counting against the salary cap while in the third phase of the Player Assistance Program, Colorado could elect to carry three goalies and have a battle for the backup position extend into the regular season.
- The Blues will have an ECHL affiliate for next season as the Florida Everblades announced that they’ve reached a multi-year affiliation agreement with St. Louis. It’s the first time the Blues have had a full affiliation at this level since the 2019-20 campaign. The Everblades, meanwhile, have won the Kelly Cup for three straight years while affiliated with two different NHL teams, Nashville and Florida but announced last month that they’d be seeking a new parent franchise which they now have.
The 3 teams with no ECHL affiliate: Carolina,
Columbus, Utah
From the AHL to NHL occurs often enough, but how often does an ECHLer really head up and down to the NHL parent club or even to the AHL for that matter?
Bobby McMann (Toronto). Jordan Binnington (St Louis) Tim Thomas (Boston) Michael Ryder ( Montreal) Jonathan Quick (LA). There are 754 players who debuted in the ECHL and are or have played in the NHL
Mostly just some ECHL goalies finally make it to the NHL.
Of course there is usually a stop into the AHL in between but tons of guys get started in the ECHL. Lots of tough guys lol. As a Ranger fan I know Dan Girardi started there and had a long career. This year Justin Brazeau came up with the Bruins and played really well.
As somebody who worked for the league for two years and whose brother was an ECHL ref for several years, I saw tons of eventual NHL guys play. Off the top of my head two of the best were Carter Verhaeghe and Mason Marchment.
Blues get a top ECHL affiliate. Chomp, chomp!. :)
Fort Myers to Springfield to St. Louis… players will be earning those sky miles
Try Kansas City – Palm Springs – Seattle or Ft Wayne – Bakersfield – Edmonton.