SO are the AHL guys going to be loaned or like baseball they will just practice
Why can’t the league survive ? Financial due to no fans ?
No one has said anything yet about the AHL, but we've discussed it some here.
We don't know if or when they'll have a season. The AHL, like minor league baseball, is very highly reliant on gates (people coming to the game and buying things) to generate revenue, since they don't have a lucrative TV contract and the sponsorship deals are small and many will likely be voided with no fans present. So the likelihood of being able to play, is very small, if you ask me. Less than two-thirds of the teams are owned by their NHL franchises, who are already facing their own operating shortfalls, and probably don't want to lose more money operating an AHL team. The independently-owned AHL teams are in trouble.
Beyond that, the NHL is using the whole "bubble" model. That's obviously not going to work for AHL teams as it's another added expense and you'd have to do it for all franchises all season, or until things truly opened back up. So, that's another major impediment.
There are the "4A" players--guys who are really good AHL players but not quite NHL regulars--who are probably going to look for opportunities in Europe, given the uncertainty of if/when the AHL season will start. I posted the other day that Danny O'Regan, when he's done with the Rangers this postseason, is rumored to be signing in Germany. Lots of guys will do that (for as many spots as there are for North American players in the European leagues). Many guys can't just wait around and then lose an entire year of income if the AHL in canceled.
At the same time, you're going to have guys under NHL contract--for us, think guys like maybe a Gettinger, Elmer, Ronning, the three college guys we signed, maybe K'Andre Miller, etc., that will need a place to play. They could theoretically be loaned out, but if we do that it makes it very difficult to bring them back into the mix if we needed them. The NHL could expand rosters, or allow a permanent taxi squad of 6-10 guys, but that would be tough still as those guys aren't actually playing when for their development, they need to be playing more than anything.
It's also going to be interesting to see how the European assignment clauses work. Usually, they are written so that if a player isn't on the NHL roster by Date X, or after X games, he can exercise the clause. How will that work if the NHL season start a couple months late? Like, if Rykov's EAC kicks in if he's not on the roster after ten games, and we're not ten games in until December, will he have to wait until that point to exercise it? At that point the KHL has played a couple dozen games, and most of the other leagues have as well. Or, if his clause kicks in if he's not on the roster by October 15--does that date get pushed back, or is it honored?
There are a ton of things still up in the air with the AHL in general and the players specifically. It will be really interesting to see how they work it all out. Lots of guys will be looking for places to play hockey and quite honestly, there probably aren't enough spots in the high-level European leagues for the North American guys that will be looking for work. I feel like a lot of guys are just going to sit out.
