The Wolves and Carolina Hurricanes have made it official. Finally.
After months of speculation, the expected agreement was announced Thursday to make the Wolves the Hurricanes’ AHL affiliate. The deal is a three-year pact, and will see Carolina shift its AHL operations from the Charlotte Checkers.
The Wolves spent the past three seasons as the affiliate of the Vegas Golden Knights, but that agreement dissolved once the 2019-20 campaign ended. Vegas purchased the San Antonio Rampage and moved them to Nevada, where they will play as the Henderson Silver Knights whenever the 2020-21 AHL season commences.
Thursday’s news was not a surprise - especially after last week when the Florida Panthers acknowledged their new affiliate would be Charlotte - but it did take a while to materialize.
In April, the Raleigh News & Observer reported that the Hurricanes and Wolves were expected to join together, though the potential pairing had drawn speculation in AHL circles. The News & Observer report said the deal would become final when the rest of the 2019-20 AHL season was officially canceled, which subsequently happened in May.
That’s not when the union was formalized, but the pact with Carolina is what Wolves chairman Don Levin wanted.
“Wherever Don Waddell was, I’d love to be affiliated with him,” Levin told the Sun-Times in April. “He knows the game. He knows the players and he likes to see his players win. Winning two championships with him in the past was fun and we’d like to keep doing it. Hopefully we’ll get something done.”
Waddell, the Hurricanes general manager, ran the Atlanta Thrashers when they were the Wolves’ parent club, a pairing that resulted in those Calder Cup titles. That relationship ended in 2011 when the Thrashers moved to Winnipeg. Since then, the Wolves have gone through pairings with Vancouver (2011-13), St. Louis (2013-17), and now Vegas (2017-20).
But in some ways, the Wolves-Thrashers pairing was a continuation of the Wolves’ time in the old International Hockey League.
The 2008 AHL championship team had numerous players who spent a number of seasons with the Wolves. Meanwhile, roster turnover was common during the Wolves-Golden Knights partnership, especially the 2019-20 season.
In February, Levin told the Sun-Times, “Part of the problem is we haven’t had players here for a long time.” He also said experienced veterans can help youngsters develop.
“That’s part of the next part of the equation, is trying to deal with somebody and saying, look, we want to have three or four players that we want to sign for three or four years that we have them and become more Chicago Wolves players,” Levin said. “They have to be good to develop the younger players.”
Ryan Warsofsky, who coached Charlotte last season, will take over behind the Wolves’ bench.
