The Allen Americans added an experienced defenseman to the roster this week with the signing of veteran Nolan Kneen. How much experience does Kneen add? The Americans have six defensemen on the roster. Nolan has six years of ECHL experience; the other five defensemen have a combined total of seven years of ECHL experience.
Kneen is very familiar to Allen fans as he started his pro career in Allen in 2020-21. The 27-year-old, 6'0", 200 lb, right-shot defenseman from Kelowna, British Columbia, has played in 316 ECHL games (56 with Allen) and totaled 107 points (27G, 80A) and 298 penalty minutes. He spent part of his second season with Allen (2021-22) on loan to the AHL Charlotte Checkers for 18 games, where he recorded six points (1G, 5A).
For the last three seasons, Kneen has played for the Wichita Thunder. Here is the press release issued by the Allen Americans https://allenamericans.com/news/2026/09/welcome-back-to-texas
Here is a get-to-know-you Q&A video with Nolan from last season: https://wichitathunder.com/videos/meat-the-team-with-nolan-kneen-presented-by-wichita-wagyu
- I had a chance to talk to Coach Martinson about the Kneen signing, and in addition to his quote in the press release about experience, skill, and physical play, the stability Kneen brings to the roster is key. Allen is likely to get contracted defensemen from two different AHL teams. That means you're more likely to lose multiple players to recall than if you had several from one team. Plus, Andre Anania has the skill to play in the AHL and is a free agent, so he can be loaned to any AHL team. Sam Sedley has not been signed, but is at training camp with Manitoba. While Allen has his ECHL rights, he may get signed by Manitoba. The bottom line is Allen could open the season with an embarrassment of riches at defense, but that depth could be put to a test if several of those defensemen get recalled or loaned to the AHL.
Martinson was trying to find a veteran defenseman who wanted to get into coaching and stay in Allen, and Kneen fits that role. He won't be a player-assistant, but will be asked to work with the younger defensemen after practice. On the road, Kneen will be the voice of the defense on the bench on strategic moves Martinson makes during the game. With Kneen, Martinson will have a player who is in training to become a coach.
- The Allen roster now stands at 20, which includes three veterans and five rookies.
Goalies
- Brett Mirwald: rookie
Forwards
- Divyne Apollon - rookie
- Spencer Asuchak - veteran
- Cole Bishop - rookie
- Chase Coughlin - rookie
- Hank Crone
- Mathieu De St. Phalle
- Michael Gildon
- Riley Kidney
- Chase Maxwell
- Anthony Rinaldi
- Zackary Shantz - rookie
- Lukas Sillinger
- Brayden Watts - veteran
Defense
- Andre Anania
- Jackson Decker
- Nolan Kneen - veteran
- Troy Murray
- Quinn Warmuth
- Cal Uens - rookie
- By my count, the Americans will have 10 players attending AHL training camps after several attended NHL prospect and main training camps. That gives them exposure, and they will be in better shape if/when they end up at Allen's training camp.
- Andre Anania - Tucson
- Chase Coughlin - Belleville
- Mark Duarte - Belleville (unsigned, Allen has his ECHL rights)
- Riley Kidney - Belleville
- Brett Mirwald - Tucson
- Zackary Shantz - Belleville
- Sam Sedley - Manitoba (unsigned, Allen has his ECHL rights)
- Luke Sillinger - Tucson
- Cal Uens - Belleville
- Quinn Warmuth - Cleveland
OTHER COMMENTS
- The European hockey season is underway, and here are three former Allen players off to a good start based on points per game (PPG) and points:
- 1.60 PPG - Zane Franklin (Denmark) - 8 points (2G, 6A) in five games.
- 1.75 PPG - Scott Conway (Northern Ireland) - 7 points (4G, 3A) in four games.
- 2.00 PPG - Olivier Archambault (England) - 6 points (2G, 4A) in three games.
- The number of ECHL games played by NHL/AHL contracted players in 2025-26 varied widely by team. I don't have a complete list, but teams like South Carolina and Wheeling totaled well over 600 games; Cincinnati and Savannah over 500 games, and Florida and Fort Wayne over 400 games. At the other end of the spectrum were teams like Jacksonville (152) and Allen (141).
Some ECHL franchises are finding ways to get their affiliates to sign key veteran players to AHL contracts with no intention of them playing in the AHL. These are top players that would be signed for $1200 - $1400 per week in the ECHL, but only cost $625 against the salary cap once they sign an AHL deal. Here is how Coach Martinson explains this:
"You are trying to stick handle between having key players you are not going to lose to the American League and players looking to move up. That is what we had when we were winning championships. A core group of guys not looking to move up who were good enough to win championships."
"To beat those teams that have proven players that are signed in the AHL but never recalled is difficult. They have a bunch of players that only cost $625 against the salary cap, which saves money that allows them to sign more players to high-end ECHL contracts."
"Because of the salary cap, players on AHL contracts, and the number of teams, it is much harder to sign all the guys you need that are looking to stay in Allen and be good enough to win a championship. When we were winning championships, we had eight or nine of those core guys, and they all had the talent to play in the AHL, but were committed to winning in Allen."
"We have to take the risk with guys like Anania, Sedley, Duarte, and Kidney, knowing we could lose them to any AHL team. If they end up signing with our affiliate, we know they will be back for the playoffs. If they end up with a bad team, we may get them back for the playoffs, but there are several examples of players deciding they didn't want to return for the playoffs. A third possibility is a player signing with a good AHL team and isn't available to return to Allen for the playoffs because of the AHL playoffs."
"The bottom line is, to beat the top teams like Florida, who come up with a way to have their top guys never recalled, we have to take these risks."
ECHL STATS
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