Allen vs Wichita Series Preview, Roster/Injury Update, New Weekly Payment for NHL/AHL Contracted Players and Number of Contracted Players by Team

 

The Allen Americans begin yet another four games in five days tonight. This one will see Allen play all four games against one of its biggest rivals, the Wichita Thunder. They will play tonight and Friday in Allen before traveling to Wichita for games on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. 

 

- This rivalry goes back to the beginning of the Allen franchise in 2009-10. The rivalry includes everything from Allen defeating Wichita for its first championship to Wichita owners buying the Allen Americans to brawls during warmups. It is safe to say Allen has been the more successful franchise with four championships to none for Wichita since 2009-10. Since joining the ECHL in 2014-15, Allen has won two Kelly Cups and missed the playoffs twice. Wichita has missed the playoffs seven times.

 

- Last season, Wichita flipped the script on Allen. The Americans had the worst record in the league while the Thunder made the playoffs, losing to Tahoe 4-0 in the first round. Wichita dominated Allen in the regular season (10-3-0-0). 

 

- Enough about the past, let's look at 2025-26. Allen and Wichita will play 10 times this season, split evenly home and away. One of the two games postponed because of the strike was a game at Wichita. That game has not been rescheduled. I haven't seen any of the 41 postponed games rescheduled. It is looking more and more like the season will be extended to fit in all of the postponed games.

 

- Allen and Wichita have played twice this season. The Americans opened the season in Wichita and beat the Thunder 3-2 in a shootout, with Hank Crone scoring the game-winning goal. Their other game was at home on November 5, with Allen winning 6-4. Mark Duarte led the team with a hat trick. A week later, Mark played his first game in Belleville (AHL) and has never returned. 

  

- Here are some comparison stats between Allen and Wichita:

• Allen's record is 15-12-3-0 (550), Wichita's is 13-11-3-2. 
• Allen is 7-3-0-0 over the last 10 games, Wichita is 5-3-1-1.
• Allen is 8-4-1-0 at home, Wichita is 6-7-1-0 on the road.
• Allen's goal differential is +6 (101-95), Wichita's is -3 (89=86).
• Allen's team plus/minus is +14, Wichita's is -31.
• Allen's team save percentage is .914, Wichita's is .917.

 

- Here are more statistical comparisons between the two teams.

• Goals scored average: Allen (3.4) - Wichita (3.1)
• Goals allowed average: Allen (3.2) - Wichita (3.0)
• Shots for average: Allen (33.4) - Wichita (32.7)
• Shots against average: Allen (37.0) - Wichita (34.8)
• Power play percentage: Allen (18.0%) - Wichita (18.9%)
• Penalty kill percentage: Allen (85.1%) - Wichita (85.7%

 

- Here are some other relevant stats to this series:

• Allen is the #3 ranked team in penalty minutes (479), Wichita is ranked #29 with 269 minutes.
• Allen has scored first in 43% of games with a record of 10-1-2-0 (.846)
• Wichita has scored first in 55% of games with a record of 9-3-2--2 (.688).
• Allen has been involved in 4 overtime games with a record of 0-3 in OT and 1-0 in shootouts. 
• Wichita has been involved in 8 overtime games with a record of 2-3 in OT and 1-2 in shootouts. 
• Allen is 11-0-0-0 when leading after the 2nd period, Wichita is 9-2-1-1. 
• Allen is 1-10-1-0 when trailing after the 1st period, is 2-5-0-0.
• Conclusions from these stats tell you Allen needs to stay out of the penalty box; the team that scores first has a big advantage, and Allen doesn't play well from behind, but is great with the lead.  

 

 - If you look at the stats above, Allen and Wichita are very close statistically. Allen has been playing well for over a month, with a record of 11-6-0-0 (.647). In the 11 wins, Allen has averaged 5.1 goals per game. In the six losses, Allen averaged 2.2 goals per game. What has been the difference in the wins and losses? Martinson pointed out that in several of the losses, there were too many neutral zone turnovers to the other team's top line that ended up in goals. A key in this series is not turning over the puck and working harder to get it back when there is a turnover.    

Wichita has also played well recently. The Thunder's record over the last 15 games is 9-4-1-1 (.667), playing some top opponents (Kansas City, Idaho, and Tahoe). With 60% of the regular season remaining, anything can happen, but Allen and Wichita could be battling for the final playoff spot right to the end.

 

- Allen will be playing shorthanded tonight, possibly two players short. Tomas Caron has left the team and is headed to Europe. He signed with the same team he played for last season (HPK) in the top league in Finland (Liiga).

 

- Coach Martinson is awaiting the results of tests to determine if some of the injured players are day-to-day or will be out longer. The injured list includes LeDonne, Simmons-Fischer, Murray, and Maxwell.

 

- With Caron leaving, Coach Martinson will have to make some changes to the lines. He told me, "We are playing a faster game now, which allows me more versatility with who is playing with whom. We will have three number one lines tonight."

 I won't have the complete lineup until later today, but look for Crone, Hargrove, and McAuley to be reunited and Morrison to play with Katic and Gildon. That leaves the Asuchak, Watts, Blaisdell line intact. 

 

- Martinson also told me he plans on adding one or two players for the weekend, depending on the availability of the injured players.  

 

OTHER COMMENTS

- How have Allen and Wichita fared against the top three teams (Kansas City, Idaho, Tahoe) in the division this season? Here are the records. 

• Allen: 1-7-1-0 (.167)
• Wichita: 4-6-0-1 (.409)

Wichita has 18 games remaining against the top three teams, with 10 of them against Kansas City. Allen has 13 games remaining against the top three teams, with four against Kansas City. Advantage Allen.

     

- It is a very light Wednesday schedule in the ECHL with only five games being played tonight. However, five of eight Mountain Division teams will be in action. In addition to Wichita at Allen, Tulsa is at Kansas City, and Greensboro is at Idaho. Here is the ECHL Today with all of the previews: https://echl.com/news/2026/01/echl-today-jan-7   

 

- I haven't seen this information on any official ECHL or PHPA site, but I have seen it posted on several social media accounts. It is the weekly amount ECHL teams have to reimburse for assigned NHL/AHL contracted players. It is also the amount that counts toward the salary cap. Before the new CBA, the weekly amount was $525, and that amount has not changed in the last two Collective Bargaining Agreements going back to 2013-14. Here are the weekly amounts being reported in the new CBA.

• $600 - 2025-26
• $625 - 2026-27
• $637 - 2027-28
• $650 - 2028-29
• $675 - 2029-30

Increasing this weekly amount helps level the playing field for teams that don't have a lot of contracted players assigned.   

 

- DID YOU KNOW: Here are the NHL/AHL contracted players assigned to each ECHL team. It is no surprise Allen is at the bottom of the list. Allen's net number is zero when you consider one contracted player (Katic) is assigned, but one Allen contracted player (Mark Duarte) has been in Belleville on a PTO (tryout contract) since early November and has not been signed to an SPC (Standard Player Contract):

 

With the salary increases in the new CBA, teams with a high number of NHL/AHL contracted players have an even bigger financial advantage. However, it doesn’t always translate to success on the ice. ECHL’s top teams, those with point percentages above .600, are marked with an asterisk. Here is the number of NHL/AHL contracted players assigned to each ECHL team:

 

14: *SC

10: SAV

9: CIN, *FLA

8: RC, REA, TUL, UTA

7: IA, *KC, TR, *WHL, WOR

6: *ADK, *FW, KAL, MNE, NOR, ORL

5: BLM, GSO, GVL

4: *ATL, *IDH, TAH, *TOL, WIC

3: IND, JAX

1: ALN