The state of Utah is welcoming its first NHL team in history this season as the Utah Hockey Club becomes the newest team in the league. However, the area has had a long hockey history including with the Utah Grizzlies: the current ECHL affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche. The addition of Utah to the NHL has brought up a lot of questions about the Grizzlies’ future in the state.
A Potential Relationship Between the Two
The Grizzlies have been around since 1995, existing in the International Hockey League (IHL), American Hockey League (AHL), and as of now, the ECHL. When rumors of the NHL having interest in expanding to Utah first started appearing, questions about the minor league team’s future began swirling in the air. However, in March, Jared Youngman, who at the time was vice president of the Grizzlies, shut down any potential of the team leaving Salt Lake City.
“I don’t see us going away, I don’t see minor league hockey going away,” Youngman said. “Whether we stay in the ECHL or move up to the American Hockey League … hockey is going to be at the Maverik Center, I don’t see that changing.”
The Grizzlies have been a strong presence in the ECHL. The team usually ends up in the top 10 in the league for attendance. It made sense as they were the highest level of pro hockey in the state of Utah and one of the few minor league teams in the region with the Salt Lake City Bees and the Salt Lake City Stars.
The Grizzlies have also provided a rivalry with all the western teams which has helped the ECHL continue to expand westward. Currently, only the Idaho Steelheads and the new Tahoe Knight Monsters are located near the Grizzlies, but the ECHL has slowly added more and more teams and will continue to do so thanks to the popularity of the three teams.
Related: Looking at Utah’s Minor League Affiliations
The arrival of the Utah Hockey Club brings a potential relationship made in heaven between the two Salt Lake City hockey teams. Both teams have already been essential in the community by starting youth hockey programs; the Grizzlies with the Jr. Grizzlies and the new NHL team teaming up with local health company Nomi Health to make a youth program of their own. A relationship between the two would only make sense.
That’s where you run into issues. Let’s start at the ECHL level first. The Grizzlies have been affiliated with the Avalanche since the 2018-19 season. The contract has two years left according to sources within the organization. However, Youngman has come out and said that the contract could be reworked.
“Currently, the affiliation agreement is with [the] Colorado [Avalanche], but we would love to find ways to rework it and work with NHL Utah,” Youngman said. “I mean, as of right now, we’re where we’re at. [We’re] not opposed to collaborating and making things work together with NHL Utah.”
Meanwhile, Utah has come out and said they would love to be affiliated with the Grizzlies in the future but for right now are respective of the team’s affiliation with the Avalanche. Utah signed a one-year ECHL deal with the Allen Americans over the summer ending any potential relationship between them and the Grizzlies for the next year.
One interesting thing is that the ECHL has been very open about expanding to 32 teams. Currently, the league sits at 29 after adding the Knights Monsters and the Bloomington Bison in the offseason. The ECHL could expand somewhere in Colorado where it hasn’t been since 2018 when the Colorado Eagles were promoted to the AHL. An expansion to Colorado could fix all the problems, giving the Avalanche a second team in its own state to be affiliated with, which would mean the end of the affiliation between them and the Grizzlies.
It could happen. There has been some interest from areas like Colorado Springs. Fort Collins could be another interesting area as well. Even a potential team in Cheyenne, Wyoming, which is closer to Denver than Salt Lake City, could make sense.
Eventually, the Grizzlies will be affiliated with Utah. It’s obvious the two teams want to be affiliated and it makes too much sense not to happen. Now, when the two eventually do pair up, another interesting scenario could happen.
The Grizzlies to the AHL
If you look around the league, a majority of the NHL teams have their AHL teams very close to them. The San Jose Sharks with the San Jose Barracuda, the Winnipeg Jets with the Manitoba Moose, the Vegas Golden Knights with the Henderson Silver Knights, and more recently with Calgary Flames moving the Stockton Heat to Calgary to become the Wranglers. It makes it easier to call up and send down prospects to the AHL where most NHL players play at some point in their careers.
To become a more successful organization, it wouldn’t be surprising if Utah comes into affiliation with the ECHL team that the two sides work on a scenario where the Grizzlies are promoted to the AHL. It hasn’t been unheard of. The Eagles did it in 2018. The Grizzlies were actually in the AHL for 10 years from 1995 to 2005.
Currently, Utah is affiliated with the Tucson Roadrunners who ex-Arizona Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo owns. Many were concerned about how the relationship between the two sides would pan out after Ryan Smith bought the Coyotes’ hockey operations from Meruelo and relocated them to Salt Lake City. There were also concerns about the stability of the Roadrunners’ franchise after Meruelo pulled out of a deal to let the team play six games at Mullett Arena in Tempe and has reportedly planned on relocating the team to Reno when his arena finishes construction in a couple of years.
However, Utah’s president of hockey operations Chris Armstrong came out during a press conference a couple of weeks ago and said the relationship between the two has been good and there is a multi-year agreement in place for the Roadrunners to be the AHL affiliate for Utah. There’s no word exactly how long the agreement is for.
When the affiliation agreement between the two eventually ends, it wouldn’t be surprising for Utah to voice their support of the Grizzlies moving up to the AHL. The Maverik Center, which is the home of the Grizzlies, can hold up to 12,600 people – which is more than enough for the AHL.
Potential ECHL Team in St. George
If the Grizzlies move up to the AHL, what will happen at Utah’s ECHL level? The franchise could look up north to Idaho where the Steelheads play. The team has been affiliated with the Dallas Stars since the 2005-06 season. It could be a valuable relationship as the Steelheads are one of the best-run teams in the ECHL, which has led to them being approached in the past by the Seattle Kraken on becoming their AHL affiliate when the NHL team first joined the league. The distance from Salt Lake City and Boise isn’t far only being a little over an hour in terms of flight.
What is likely is that Utah eventually looks within its own state to put an ECHL expansion team. It’s been reported by KSL’s Jay Stevens that there is an ECHL-compatible rink being built in St. George, which is four hours south of Salt Lake City via car. St. George has a population of 102,519 and is also the home of Utah Tech University. The city has hosted a pro sports game in the past when the NBA’s Utah Jazz played a preseason game at Utah Tech’s arena.
An ECHL team in St. George wouldn’t be surprising if the Grizzlies got promoted to the AHL. The league will most likely want to keep its presence in Utah and the western part of the United States so moving down just four hours south would be a simple compensation.
All of this could potentially lead to Smith potentially purchasing the Grizzlies and the Maverik Center. It could happen especially if it’s offered at the right price. For now, though, Smith has been financially busy after purchasing an NHL team, land to build a practice facility, and leading a potential revitalization of the downtown Salt Lake City area near Delta Center.
All of this as of right now is just logical thinking and guessing. While there’s no question that the Grizzlies and Utah will be affiliated on a certain level someday in the future, it’s at least a year away from coming to fruition. For now, fans can set their sights on Utah’s Oct. 5 preseason game, which will be played at the Maverik Center that the Grizzlies have called home ever since 1997 in hopes of one day having three pro hockey teams located in the Beehive state, all under the same affiliation.
