It has already been more than a month since the Allen Americans played their last hockey game of the season (April 25) and the Kelly Cup may not be decided for another ten days. Florida and Colorado are tied 1-1 with the next three games in Florida tonight, Friday and Saturday. Thought I would cover some of the questions I have gotten over the last 10 days as well as some other random thoughts.
Critical dates in June - The first of a series of critical dates takes place on Friday (June 1st). Teams have to submit a "Protected List" which can be an unlimited number of players for which the team retains the rights as defined by the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). This list will be published by the ECHL. The next step is the "Season Ending Roster" which is due June 15. Season ending rosters may include up to 20 players from the protected list. After the season ending rosters are submitted (June 15) the next
critical date will be on June 30. Until June 30 all of the Allen
American player's rights for the ECHL remain with Allen (unless the
rights
are traded) but on June 30th Martinson has to submit to the league a
list
of
no more than eight players he wants to protect/qualify. These eight
names do
not include players that have already signed. Because only eight players
can be protected/qualified there is incentive to get as many players signed by
June 30th as possible. The eight players will be given qualifying offers
which for the most part must be 5% above their salary from last season.
The
qualifying offer period is from June 30th to August 1st. My understanding is the new CBA changes some of the qualifying offer dates as it relates to veterans.
- The first day to officially sign players for the 2018-19 season is June 16. You can expect coach Martinson will sign a lot of players between June 16 and June 30 when qualifying offers can be made but are limited to just eight players. It doesn't mean players signed will be announced. If you see your favorite player not getting a qualifying offer when the qualifying offer list is released (June 30) it could mean they are already signed.
- This doesn't impact the Americans but all future considerations trades must be done by June 13. Allen did owe Quad City future considerations for the Tristan King trade but that disappeared when the Mallards ceased operations at the end of the season.
- The ECHL announced yesterday that they had selected a new commissioner from within their organization. Ryan Crelin who has been with the ECHL since 2005 will replace Brian McKenna. Here is the ECHL press release with the details: https://www.echl.com/crelin-to-succeed-mckenna-as-echl-commissioner
- There is a new five year CBA which will go into effect on July 1. While I have not seen the new CBA I do know the weekly salary cap for 2018-19 will be $13,000 which is a $200 per week increase from last season. When you figure that over a 20 player roster that is a $10 per week per player increase.
- According to Elite Prospects there have been 18 ECHL players in the last month who have signed to play overseas in 2018-19. It doesn't seem as many high profile ECHL players have signed overseas as last year but it is still early. I have heard some Allen players are looking at overseas options but nobody has signed yet. Here are a few of the players that are headed overseas:
Justin Danforth (F) - Cincinnati Cyclones rookie all-star
Jesse Mychan (F) - Colorado Eagles
Ty Rimmer (G) - Greenville Swamp Rabbits
Gabriel Desjardins - Fort Wayne Komets leading goal scorer
Adam Vay (G) - Rapid City Rush top goalie
- Here is a great story about former Allen Americans forward Adam Pineault: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/unpredictable-journey-craig-eagles
- I get questions daily about the new affiliation for the Allen Americans and unfortunately there is nothing new to report other than I would expect an announcement prior to the ECHL summer meetings which take place June 18-22.
- Speaking of the summer meetings there is always news that breaks that week that could include rule changes, franchise changes and a whole host of other things. Always worthwhile following what is happening in Las Vegas that week. Here are some of the details about the summer meetings: https://www.echl.com/2018-echl-hockey-summer-meetings-presented-fevo-held-june-18-22-la
- Whether you are fan or foe of the Fort Wayne Komets it is hard to dispute they have the best local coverage of any team in the ECHL. I have learned so much from their local beat writers Justin Cohn (The Journal Gazette) and Blake Sebring (News-Sentinel). The Allen Americans can only dream of the quantity and quality of coverage these two professionals give the Komets. If you are on Twitter they are a must follow: @SportsiCohn and @blakesebring.
DID YOU KNOW: Here are a few stats to consider as Florida plays the next three games at home against Colorado. The series tied 1-1.
- Scoring first: Florida is 11-0 in the playoffs when scoring first. Colorado is 8-2.
- Home vs road record: Florida's home record in the playoffs is 5-0-1 but they shouldn't feel too comfortable because Colorado's road record is 7-1-0.
- Overtime: Florida is 1-1 in overtime in the playoffs. Colorado is 6-1.
- Special teams: Florida's playoff power play percentage is 21.5% compared to Colorado's 14.8%. Florida's penalty kill percentage is 86.8% compared to 83.9% for Colorado. Florida leads the playoffs in shorthanded goals (4) and shorthanded goals allowed (0).
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