Current ECHL

[johnnydrum]

Hello. Just having a good look about the ECHL and wondered who were the Top Players /Stars of the League. Any info...much appreciated!

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[JMCx4]

@johnnydrum: With 27 teams in the League, it's difficult to identify "Top Players/Stars" comprehensively. I'd start with the ECHL.com Statistics page for current producers. Fans of individual teams can weigh in on the players they consider "Top."

ETA: I find it curious that a U.S.-based hockey league would have a Statistics page that spells "Defensemen" with a "c" ...

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

@johnnydrum: With 27 teams in the League, it's difficult to identify "Top Players/Stars" comprehensively. I'd start with the ECHL.com Statistics page for current producers. Fans of individual teams can weigh in on the players they consider "Top."

ETA: I find it curious that a U.S.-based hockey league would have a Statistics page that spells "Defensemen" with a "c" ...

YEAH, IT more depends and has been on who has the affiliation/development model, even with the fanbases who have gotten franchises the last few years, as evidenced by the way the ECHL tracks its "graduates" to both the AHL/NHL... MOST fans are knowledgeable enough to have followed those franchises and are aware of the subtle differences between the three leagues, because it's not just players, it's executives, and the officials who are all moving to that next level...

to put it simply, I'D JUST follow the league itself, it won't take long to figure out how each franchise operates within the framework of the league...

as for the Defenceman, that's just the way some sources, in Canada, are....when you have had junior teams associated with Hockey Canada, as the O/Q primarily are, you kinda overlook that....

 

[Barclay Donaldson]

Hello. Just having a good look about the ECHL and wondered who were the Top Players /Stars of the League. Any info...much appreciated!

JMC hit the nail on the head with his assessment. It's also difficult to say who the top players or stars of the league are as those guys get called up to the AHL and tend not to linger in the EC. Check out the points/game section and there's guys with 25 or fewer games who are lighting the lamp at a faster pace than the leading point getters in the league who have 45 or more games played.

It's a difficult question to answer for those reasons but I'd say check out the stats page and catch a few games if you can find a stream online to see for yourself.

 

[210]

@johnnydrum: With 27 teams in the League, it's difficult to identify "Top Players/Stars" comprehensively. I'd start with the ECHL.com Statistics page for current producers. Fans of individual teams can weigh in on the players they consider "Top."

ETA: I find it curious that a U.S.-based hockey league would have a Statistics page that spells "Defensemen" with a "c" ...

AHL does it too...

 

[JMCx4]

AHL does it too...

Look no further than HockeyTech, Waterloo, ON.

 

[johnnydrum]

Thank you everyone.
Just looking, as I am more interested in the Imports. Can anyone sign with a ECHL team, or do you have to be drafted from NHL, and relegated from AHL---OR can Euros simply sign with ECHL, despite not having any NHL affiliation?

 

[Barclay Donaldson]

Thank you everyone.
Just looking, as I am more interested in the Imports. Can anyone sign with a ECHL team, or do you have to be drafted from NHL, and relegated from AHL---OR can Euros simply sign with ECHL, despite not having any NHL affiliation?

Each EC team is responsible for signing their own players, there are no requirements to be drafted or be sent down from the AHL. Imports can sign for whoever gives them an offer. One example I can think of is Peter Sivak, an undrafted forward from either Czech Republic or Slovakia, I can't remember which. He's been a consistent producer in the league for the last 6-7 years with the occasional AHL call-up.

 

[JMCx4]

... One example I can think of is Peter Sivak, an undrafted forward from either Czech Republic or Slovakia, I can't remember which. ...

Good example. Sivak is a Slovak. He had noteworthy offensive numbers early in his ECHL play with San Francisco then Alaska, then again with Alaska and with Rapid City in recent seasons.

Going on vague recollections, I'm inclined to believe the goaltender position in the ECHL is most likely to attract & retain European talent. But the closest I could come to the "Top Players" category in recent seasons is Sweden's Jonas Johansson playing in Cincinnati. He's had fair numbers in the ECHL, and more than a dozen AHL games played in the last 3 seasons since he came to North America.

 

[royals119]

Ilya Nekolenko is a russian defensemen who is playing in the ECHL this year. He was a try-out with the Royals, and made the opening night roster, but was a healthy scratch for the first month. He was traded to Newfoundland, and I think he is playing some there. Not a top player by any means, but an undrafted foreign player who came to the ECHL. I talked to him a little when he was in Reading (very little because he hardly speaks English) and he said he went to a camp near Vancouver for Russian players who want to come to the US before the season.

ECHL teams don't have a big scouting network, so players from outside the US and Canada are more rare, but sometimes the affiliate will pass along a name of someone they saw that expressed interest in coming to the US.

 

[Woo Hockey]

ECHL teams don't have a big scouting network, so players from outside the US and Canada are more rare, but sometimes the affiliate will pass along a name of someone they saw that expressed interest in coming to the US.

Depending on the involvement with affiliates, the coaches of the AHL and ECHL team do attend training/rookie camps in some capacity. They usually pick up a few players at the end of those camps.