ECHL: Adirondack Thunder and New Jersey Devils Extend Affiliation Agreement for 2026-27 Season | Inside The Rink
HomeNHLECHL: Adirondack Thunder and New Jersey Devils Extend Affiliation Agreement for 2026-27 Season
Dakota Gilbert/Adirondack Thunder
The Adirondack Thunder and New Jersey Devils have announced that they’ve extended their affiliation agreement for the 2026-27 season. This comes after as the two sides agreed to the mutual option for the third year of a three-year deal between the two sides. The 2026-27 will be the ninth year of the New Jersey-Adirondack affiliation. Since being affiliated with New Jersey, the Thunder have only missed the Kelly Cup Playoffs twice (2022 and 2025).
Heading into the 2026-27 season, it will be interesting to see how much things change with the departure of Dan MacKinnon who had spent the last decade in the Devils organization before being fired earlier this Summer. Taking over for MacKinnon will be Braden Birch who spent the last 12 seasons in the Florida Panthers organization. Over the course of last season, the Adirondack Thunder had a lot of key pieces that were on AHL deals, including Jeremy Brodeur, Tag Bertuzzi, and Jeremy Hanzel just to name a few. Tyler Brennan, who signed a NHL deal out of college, spent all three seasons of his entry-level contract with the Thunder.
“We’re thrilled to continue our affiliation with the Utica Comets and New Jersey Devils through the 2026-27 season,” said Jeff Mead, President of the Adirondack Thunder. “The proximity between Glens Falls and Utica has been a tremendous asset for both organizations, allowing for seamless player movement and strong communication between our coaching and hockey operations staffs. Over the past several seasons, we’ve built an outstanding working relationship with the Comets and Devils organizations, and we’re excited to continue growing that partnership together.”
Adirondack Thunder President Jeff Mead on the affiliation announcement
Uncertainty Looming After 2026-27
With the Trenton Ironhawks joining the ECHL, questions have been raised on if the Adirondack-New Jersey affiliation is in danger. That is unlikely to change as the Ironhawks recently announced the New York Islanders as their NHL affiliate, however, it is unknown if the deal between Trenton and the Islanders is just a one-year deal of a multi-year deal. One of the biggest factors why I expect Adirondack and New Jersey to stay affiliated for the foreseeable future is because everyone around the organization seems to bring up the distance between Adirondack and Utica. For the most part, everything between the two parties has gone well so unless something drastic happens, don’t expect any changes any time soon.
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Inside The Rink ECHL Manager | Senior Editor
Credentialed Reporter for the Adirondack Thunder & Worcester Railers.
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