For the 26th consecutive year, the ECHL is represented on the Stanley Cup champion with Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Brandon Bussi, Vice President Pro Player Personnel Chris Abbott, Head Athletic Trainer Doug Bennett, Assistant Athletic Trainer Koryd Lavimoniere, Head Equipment Manager Jorge Alves, TV/Radio Analyst Tripp Tracy and Editorial Content Producer & Team Reporter Walt Ruff.
 
The Greensboro Gargoyles are the ECHL affiliate of the Hurricanes. The ECHL had affiliations with 30 of the 32 teams in the NHL in 2025-26, marking the 29th consecutive season that the league has had affiliations with at least 20 teams. The ECHL had 60 players on NHL opening-day rosters, marking the 23rd year in a row that there have been over 50 former ECHL players on opening-day rosters.
 
Bussi was 3-1-0 with a 2.50 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage in four appearances with Maine during the 2022-23 season.
 
Abbott tallied three points (1g-2a) in five games with Stockton and Las Vegas in the 2006-07 season.
 
Bennett was the athletic trainer for Johnstown during the 2004-05 season.
 
Lavimoniere was the athletic trainer for Norfolk from 2016-18.
 
Alves appeared in seven games with South Carolina, Greenville, Charlotte and Pensacola from 2005-07.
 
Tracy went 34-29-3 with a 3.38 goals-against average and a save percentage of .896 in 71 appearances with Richmond from 1995-97.
 
Ruff was the media manager for Norfolk during the 2016-17 season.
 
In addition to the members of the Hurricanes, the following ECHL alums have been on the Stanley Cup winner: 
 

• Assistant General Manager Brett Peterson; Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations Paul Krepelka; Assistant Coach Jamie Kompon; Goaltending Coach Robb Tallas; players Vitek Vanecek and Carter Verhaeghe; Professional Scouts P.J. Fenton and Sean Backman; Amateur Scouts Dillon Donnelly, Josh Monk and Ken Morin; Assistant Athletic Trainer Brian Riedel; Assistant Equipment Managers Thomas Anderson, Dakota King and Joe Wiezczek and Radio Broadcaster Doug Plagens (Florida – 2025)
• Assistant General Manager Brett Peterson; Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations Paul Krepelka; Assistant Coach Jamie Kompon; Goaltending Coach Robb Tallas; players Ryan Lomberg, Steven Lorentz, Anthony Stolarz and Carter Verhaeghe; Professional Scouts P.J. Fenton and Sean Backman; Assistant Athletic Trainer Brian Riedel; Assistant Equipment Managers Thomas Anderson; Dakota King and Joe Wiezczek; and Radio Broadcaster Doug Plagens (Florida – 2024)
• Head Coach Bruce Cassidy; Assistant Coach Ryan Craig; players Laurent Brossoit, Adin Hill, Keegan Kolesar, Brayden Pachal, Jonathan Quick and Logan Thompson; Manager of Goaltending Development and Scouting Mike Rosati, Professional Scouts Kent Hawley and Vince Williams; Amateur Scout Connor Jones; European Scout Alex Godynyuk; Television Play-by-Play Announcer Dave Goucher; Television Analyst Shane Hnidy and Radio Play-by-Play Announcer Dan D’Uva (Vegas – 2023)
• Head Coach Jared Bednar; Assistant Coach Nolan Pratt; goaltender Darcy Kuemper; Head Equipment Manager J.C. Ihrig and Assistant Equipment Manager Donny White (Colorado – 2022)
• Yanni Gourde; Assistant Coach Derek Lalonde; Director of Player Development JP Cote; Assistant Equipment Manager Jason Berger and Radio Play-by-Play Announcer Dave Mishkin (Tampa Bay – 2021)
• Yanni Gourde and Carter Verhaeghe; Assistant Coach Derek Lalonde; Director of Player Development JP Cote; Assistant Equipment Manager Jason Berger and Radio Play-by-Play Announcer Dave Mishkin (Tampa Bay – 2020)
   
• Jordan Binnington; Executive Vice President, Chief Revenue Officer Steve Chapman; Vice President, Broadcast and Content Development Chris Kerber; Assistant GM and Director of Amateur Scouting Bill Armstrong; Pro Scout Dave Farrish; Assistant Athletic Trainer Dustin Flynn and Equipment Assistant Andrew Dvorak (St. Louis – 2019)
   
• Jay Beagle, Philipp Grubauer and Braden Holtby; Associate Coach Todd Reirden, Professional Development Coach Olaf Kolzig, Pro Scout/Minor League Operations Jason Fitzsimmons, Manager of Hockey Analytics H.T. Lenz, Head Athletic Trainer Jason Serbus and Equipment Assistant Dave Marin (Washington – 2018)
   
• Josh Archibald, Tom Kuhnhackl, Carter Rowney and Mark Streit;Goalie Development Coach Mike Buckley; Athletic Trainer Chris Stewart; Head Equipment Manager Dana Heinze; Vice President of Hockey Operations Jason Karmanos; Director of Pro Scouting Derek Clancey and Amateur Scouts Ryan Bowness and Warren Young (Pittsburgh – 2017)
   
• Tom Kuhnhackl; Goalie Development Coach Mike Buckley; Head Athletic Trainer Chris Stewart; Head Equipment Manager Dana Heinze; Vice President of Hockey Operations Jason Karmanos; Director of Pro Scouting Derek Clancey and Amateur Scout Warren Young; (Pittsburgh – 2016)
   
• Scott Darling and Andrew Desjardins; Vice President of Hockey Operations Al MacIsaac; General Manager of Minor League Affiliations Mark Bernard; Director of Pro Scouting Ryan Stewart and Pro Scout Derek Booth (Chicago – 2015)
   
• Kyle Clifford; Trevor Lewis; Martin Jones; Dwight King; Jordan Nolan and Jonathan Quick and Assistant Coach Davis Payne (Los Angeles – 2014)
   
• Sheldon Brookbank and Daniel Carcillo; Assistant Coach Jamie Kompon; Vice President/Assistant to the President Al MacIsaac; Director of Pro Scouting Ryan Stewart and General Manager of Minor League Affiliations Mark Bernard (Chicago – 2013);
   
• Dwight King, Jordan Nolan, Jonathan Quick and Assistant Coach Jamie Kompon (Los Angeles – 2012)
   
• Rich Peverley, Michael Ryder and Tim Thomas and Assistant Coach Geoff Ward (Boston – 2011)
   
• Vice President Al MacIsaac, Assistant Coach Mike Haviland, Associate Coach John Torchetti and Director of Pro Scouting Ryan Stewart (Chicago – 2010)
   
• Ruslan Fedotenko and Head Coach Dan Bylsma (Pittsburgh – 2009)
   
• Aaron Downey (Detroit – 2008)
   
• Francois Beauchemin and George Parros and Assistant Coach Dave Farrish (Anaheim – 2007)
   
• Andrew Hutchinson and Chad LaRose and Head Coach Peter Laviolette (Carolina – 2006)
   
• Ruslan Fedotenko, Nolan Pratt and Andre Roy (Tampa Bay – 2004)
   
• Corey Schwab (New Jersey – 2003)
   
• Manny Legace (Detroit – 2002)
   
• David Aebischer and Nolan Pratt (Colorado – 2001)
   
• Krzysztof Oliwa (New Jersey – 2000)
   
• Kevin Dean (New Jersey – 1995)
   

The ECHL was represented in the Stanley Cup Playoffs by 36 former players and 21 coaches on the 16 teams. It was the 23rd consecutive season that over 25 players with ECHL experience competed in the NHL postseason. It marked the 22nd straight year that the ECHL has been represented by at least six coaches.

There have been 782 players who have played in the NHL after playing in the ECHL including 14 who made their debut in 2025-26. The ECHL has had 588 players reach the NHL since 2002-03 when it changed its focus to become the primary developmental league for the NHL and the AHL. The ECHL had 97 players reach the NHL in its first 10 seasons and 215 in the first 15 years. There have been 526 ECHL players who have played their first game in the last 21 seasons for an average of more than 25 per year.

There were two players who played in both the ECHL and NHL in 2025-26: Vyacheslav Buteyets (Tulsa and Anaheim) and Arsenii Sergeev (Rapid City and Calgary). 

Former ECHL broadcasters working in the National Hockey League include John Ahlers and Steve Carroll of the Anaheim Ducks, Bob McElligott of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Josh Bogorad of the Dallas Stars, Jack Michaels of the Edmonton Oilers, Doug Plagens of the Florida Panthers, Jared Shafran of the Los Angeles Kings, Brendan Burke and Alan Fuehring of the New York Islanders, Chris Kerber of the St. Louis Blues, Dave Mishkin of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Mike Folta and Adrian Denny of the Utah Mammoth, Dave Goucher and Dan D’Uva of the Vegas Golden Knights and Everett Fitzhugh of the Seattle Kraken. Former ECHL player Tyson Nash is an analyst with the Utah Mammoth, former ECHL player Jody Shelley is an analyst with the Blue Jackets, former ECHL player Tripp Tracy is an analyst with the Carolina Hurricanes and former ECHL player Shane Hnidy is an analyst with the Golden Knights.
 
There were 38 former ECHL officials who worked as part of the NHL officiating team in 2025-26 with referees Benjamin Betker, Jake Brenk, Riley Brace, Francis Charron, Tom Chmielewski, Mitch Dunning, Trevor Hanson, Beau Halkidis, Jean Hebert, Pierre Lambert, T.J. Luxmore, Peter MacDougall, Morgan MacPhee, Michael Markovic, Liam Maaskant, Wes McCauley, Jon McIsaac, Dan O’Rourke, Brian Pochmara, Kyle Rehman, Chris Rooney, Carter Sandlak, Graham Skilliter and Furman South and linesmen Steve Barton, Ryan Daisy, Julien Fournier, Brandon Gawryletz, Brandon Grillo, Trent Knorr, Matt MacPherson, Jesse Marquis, Kilian McNamara, Bevin Mills, CJ Murray, Shawn Oliver, Ben O’Quinn and Bryan Pancich. Charron, Jean Hebert, McCauley, Rooney and Knorr were selected to work the 2025 Stanley Cup Final. Hebert, McCauley, Rooney, MacPherson and Knorr were selected to work the Stanley Cup Final.
 
About the ECHL
 
Formed in 1988-89 with five teams in four states, the ECHL has grown into a coast-to-coast league with 30 teams in 23 states and one Canadian province for its 38th season in 2025-26. There have been 782 players who have gone on to play in the National Hockey League after starting their careers in the ECHL, including 14 who made their NHL debuts in the 2025-26 season. The ECHL had affiliations with 30 of the 32 NHL teams in 2025-26, marking the 28th consecutive season that the league has affiliations with at least 20 teams in the NHL. Further information on the ECHL is available on its website at ECHL.com.