Question: What is the purpose of the ECHL?

[floatyghosthat]

I know this is a very naive question, but I've never become this involved with all the workings of pro hockey before.

What is the purpose of the Colorado Eagles for the Winnipeg Jets?

My understanding of the farm system is as follows;

The top 20ish players play for the Jets. The 20th-40th best players play for the farm team (most under contract to the Jets, some just to the Caps), and players are called up or sent down due to injuries, poor performance, great performance, etc.
Young players who aren't quite ready for the bigs stay with their Junior clubs, (i.e. Scheifele/Colts) until they're ready, but are under contract to thier parent team.


It is my understanding that the ECHL is a lower level of hockey than the AHL is. Are the Eagles merely one tier below the Caps on the food chain? Do the Caps bring up and relegate players to the ECHL like the Jets do to the AHL? Do the Jets deal directly with the Eagles at all, or are they seen more as the Caps farm team? Will we ever see any Eagles players play for the Jets?

Any clarification would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

[phillymike]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECHL

[maniaaron]

all i know is that it's called echl but has teams in the west like bakersfield and stockton california so it's near the bottom of pro hockey

[floatyghosthat]

Jan 2, 2012 14:50:19 GMT -6 phillymike said:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECHL

I made sure to read the article before posting the question. It doesn't really clarify anything other than the league being a tier below the AHL, and having some major players (Kolzig, etc.) making it to the NHL.

[donwood]

For the same reason MLB has Rookie, A, AA, AAA, Some players need more time to develop then others. For the Jets and other NHL teams it gives a chance for the low draft picks to prove they deserve a longer look in the AHL.

[Guardian]

It gives players who were never drafted or who have underacheived one final chance to play and prove themselves deserving of a look at the NHL level.

[cheswick]

Yes its a tier below the AHL and there are affliate agreements between teams. The Jets are affiliated with the Colorado Eagles in the ECHL and have somne prospects palying for them.

It's very much akin to the pro ball level of things. There are further leagues lower than the ECHL. ECHL teams recall players from the federal league for example.