Duarte Update, Players Recently Released, Points Per Games Averages Compared, Familiar Names in Transactions, Best Special Teams and More

 

Now that the affiliation with Ottawa/Belleville has been announced, there are a couple of other questions I keep getting asked that I want to address:  

 

Q: Is Mark Duarte returning to Allen? Why hasn't he been announced?  

A: Mark was undoubtedly the team MVP in the dismal 2024-25 season with his tireless work ethic at both ends of the ice. His work on the penalty kill and ability to block shots made him the fan favorite. He led the team in shorthanded goals. At the offensive end of the ice, he led the team in shots (174) and goals (23). With the beating he took from blocking shots, he was #2 on the team in games played (67), one behind Brayden Watts, who led the team with 68 games played.

I am confident Duarte will return to the Americans in the 2025-26 season. Sometimes it takes time to sort everything out.

 

Q: Who were the three players that Coach Martinson had signed earlier that were traded/released?

A: The three players Steve Martinson signed at the beginning of July who are no longer part of the team are:

• Artem Kulakov - traded to Reading and signed by the Royals.
• Mike Van Unen - released, but I have heard he has signed with another Mountain Division team.
• Kenny Johnson - released, have not heard if the free agent has signed elsewhere.

It is not unusual to see signed players traded or released before training camp. Players are put up for trade all of the time. In my opinion, two things contributed to this happening. First, Steve Martinson didn't know the Allen players from last season, and there was a short window between June 22 and July 7 to sign players off the season-ending roster without qualifying them. Secondly, at that time, it looked like Allen would end up without an affiliation, so Martinson had to build a roster with that in mind. 

As Martinson started working with Belleville, and depth players for the Senators were identified and signed by Allen, it was clear that the roster was too big and created salary cap issues. Martinson could have found a way to keep the players above on the roster longer, but he wanted to give them the most time possible to find another team. It is also important to keep in mind that, before any player is released, there is an attempt to trade them.

Finally, I would assume more players will be traded and/or released as Martinson continues to work with Belleville to upgrade the roster. If he adds players, he will have to release players. 

 

- Last season, the Allen Americans forwards who played more than 20 games had point-per-game averages between .78 and .17, broken down like this:

• above .70 - 4 players
• .60 to .69 -  1 player
• .50 to .59 - 1 player
• .40 to .49 - 3 players
• .30 to .39 - 6 players
• .20 to .29 - 4 players
• .10 to .19 - 3 players

Here is the same info for the defensemen:

• above .40 - 1 player
• .30 to .39 - 1 player
• .20 to .29 - 2 players
• .10 to .19 - 4 players
• .00 to .09 - 2 players 

 

- As a comparison, here are the points per game averages for the Allen roster as of today. These are PPG stats for all games played in 2024-25. Remember, some of these stats are from different leagues, both amateur and professional:

Defensemen

• Anthony Costantini - .32
• Jackson Decker - .38 
• Troy Murray - .27 
• Matt Register - .79
• Braidan Simmons-Fischer - .48
• Kevin Spinozzi - .49 
• Quinn Warmuth - .31 
• Hudson Wilson - .17

Forwards

• Spencer Asuchak - .68
• Harrison Blaisdell - .20
• Thomas Caron - .72
• Michael Gildon - .30
• Colton Hargrove - .68
• Malik Johnson - .83
• Brad Morrison - .75
• Carter Savoie - .77
• Brayden Watts - .78

  

- It is hard to compare the data above; however, I will make two predictions based on the points per game data:

• The Allen Americans' defense will generate a lot more offense than last season. When you consider that the entire Allen defense had a total of 70 assists all last season, and compare that to Matt Register, who had 51 assists all by himself. Not a big stretch to predict much more offense from the defense in 2025-26.
• In Martinson's offensive style of play, look to see a minimum of three players average a point per game in 2024-25.  

 

OTHER COMMENTS 

- If you have been tracking the ECHL transactions, there have been some familiar names to Allen fans showing up recently. Here are all of the transactions since August 1 involving former Allen Americans players: 

• Bennett MacArthur has signed with Jacksonville
• Artyom Kulakov has signed with Reading
• Jared Westcott has signed with Rapid City
• Patrick Polino has signed with Greenville
• William Provost has signed with the University of Ottawa
• Lordanthony Grissom signed with Iowa
• Nico Blachman has signed with Florida
• Tyler Burnie has signed with Wheeling
• Josh Atkinson has signed with Greenville
• Noah Kane has signed with Worcester
• Chaz Reddekopp has retired
• Tyler Fawcett has signed with Adirondack
• Brayden Guy has retired  

 

- Allen's current roster has:

• 1037 - Allen Americans games played
• 2481 - ECHL games played
• 621 - AHL games played

 

- The Allen Americans Team Store is having a great Labor Day Sale this weekend. All hats and long-sleeve apparel (including hoodies) are 50% off, with many styles and colors to choose from. You can check the sale out at: https://shop.allenamericans.com/ 

 

-  My ECHL Stats posts from the last two days have had some interesting information 

- Five ECHL teams finished in the top 10 in both power play and penalty kill percentage in 2024-25:

 

South Carolina

PP #3 (23.2%)

PK #1 (86.3%)

 

Trois Rivières

PP #2 (24.5%)

PK #5 (83.5%)

 

Toledo

PP #1 (25.1%)

PK #8 (82.7%)

 

Indy

PP #9 (20.4%)

PK #3 (85.2%)

 

Tulsa

PP #4 (22.3%)

PK #10 (82.0%)

 

How important is special teams play to overall success? All five teams on this list made the playoffs.

 

This list includes the Kelly Cup champion (TR) and runner-up (TOL), and the Brabham Cup champion (SC). All three of these teams won their respective division.

- As the 2025-26 hockey season quickly approaches, the number of ECHL transactions are picking up. There were 48 announced transactions just in the last five days. Here are the categories with the number of players in each category:

 

17 - Announced as returning to the same ECHL team

12 - Switched ECHL teams

4 - AHL (contracted) to ECHL

4 - Europe to ECHL

4 - College to ECHL

3 - ECHL to college

1 - NHL (contracted) to ECHL

1 - ECHL to Europe

1 - ECHL to FPHL

1 - Retired

 

 

DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL will operate with 30 teams for the 2025-26 season. That is the most teams in the ECHL since 2003-04, when the ECHL absorbed the WCHL (West Coast Hockey League). The six remaining WCHL teams (Anchorage, Bakersfield, Fresno, Idaho, Long Beach, San Diego), as well as a new team in Las Vegas, joined the ECHL to make a total of 31 teams.

 

In May of 2003, the league formally changed its name from East Coast Hockey League to "ECHL" to reflect its new geographical approach. After 22 years with the new name, the league is still referred to as the "Coast" by most players, coaches, as well as many fans and writers.