Actually they were. Here is a quote:
So Florida knew about the pending sale before the vote of the league BOG, they explored their options, and they chose to continue the affiliation with the franchise in Springfield with the new owner. If the Panthers really didn't want to affiliate with the Falcons they could have attempted to get the AHL board to block the sale, or they could have tried to find another team to move their affiliation to, or they could have ended the affiliation and spread their players around the league until they found a better option. (potentially leaving Springfield with no affiliation, and therefore very likely to fold or suspend operations). Maybe they looked into it and they actually like Springfield better than Portland. Who knows, maybe they hate Springfield, and they are working a behind the scenes deal right now with Vancouver to move into Utica and they are going to buy out a local owner, setting off another round of affiliation shifts. Or maybe they will convince their NHL owner brethren on the AHL BOG to award them an AHL expansion franchise that they will place in Utica and leave Springfield to work out a deal with Seattle.
Again, I'm not predicting any of this WILL happen, I'm just saying it COULD happen. My point is, the NHL teams always have more options, and they can't really be forced to do something by an AHL owner. They might choose to go along with what the AHL owner wants because it is cheaper, or easier, or already aligns closely enough with their own preferences. But in the end, if they want what they want bad enough to spend the money and make it happen, an AHL owner isn't going to be able to stop them. They might delay something temporarily, but they don't have the power to control the NHL owners.