2023–24 ECHL season

2023–24 ECHL season
2023–24 ECHL season
League	ECHL
Sport	Ice hockey
Duration	October 19, 2023 – April 14, 2024
Regular season
Brabham Cup	Kansas City Mavericks
Season MVP	Brandon Hawkins (Toledo)
Top scorer	Brandon Hawkins
Playoffs
Kelly Cup
ECHL seasons
	← 2022–23 2024–25 →

The 2023–24 ECHL season is the 36th season of the ECHL. The regular season began on October 19, 2023, and ended on April 14, 2024, with the 2024 Kelly Cup playoffs to follow. Twenty-eight teams, all of which are affiliated with an NHL team, in 20 states and two Canadian provinces are scheduled to play 72 games.^[1]

The league terminated the Newfoundland Growlers franchise on April 2, 2024, after the St. John's-based team's owners could not finalize the sale of the team by that date by league bylaws (but were able to sell the Trois-Rivières Lions before that, as they also owned the Lions). With this termination and following cancellation of their remaining games (3 vs Trois-Rivières and 3 vs Norfolk), the ECHL announced that the North Division standings would be decided by point % to make up for those missing games for Trois-Rivières and Norfolk Admirals^[2]^[3]

US-based teams in the ECHL as of the 2023–24 season. Dot colors correspond to the divisional alignment.

Newfoundland

Trois-Rivières

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Canadian-based teams in the ECHL as of the 2023–24 season. Dot colors correspond to the divisional alignment.

League changes[edit]

Coaching changes[edit]

Old Coach	New Coach	Team
Ben Boudreau	Jesse Kallechy	Fort Wayne Komets
Eric Wellwood	Matt Cooke	Newfoundland Growlers
Dan Watson	Pat Mikesch	Toledo Walleye
Marc-Andre Bergeron	Ron Choules	Trois-Rivières Lions

Affiliation changes[edit]

ECHL team	New affiliates	Former affiliates
Atlanta Gladiators	Nashville Predators (NHL) Milwaukee Admirals (AHL)	Arizona Coyotes (NHL) Tucson Roadrunners (AHL)
Cincinnati Cyclones	New York Rangers (NHL) Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL)	Buffalo Sabres (NHL) Rochester Americans (AHL)
Jacksonville Icemen	Buffalo Sabres (NHL) Rochester Americans (AHL)	New York Rangers (NHL) Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL)
Kalamazoo Wings	Vancouver Canucks (NHL) Abbotsford Canucks (AHL)	Columbus Blue Jackets (NHL) Cleveland Monsters (AHL)
Norfolk Admirals	Winnipeg Jets (NHL) Manitoba Moose (AHL)	Chicago Wolves (AHL)

All-star game[edit]

The 2024 All Star Game was held in January 2024, at Enmarket Arena, home arena of the Savannah Ghost Pirates.^[4]

Standings[edit]

Final standings^[5]

Eastern Conference[edit]

x – clinched playoff spot, y – clinched regular season division title, z – Brabham Cup (regular season) champion
e – indicates team has been eliminated from playoff contention, coi – ceased operations immediately

North Division†	GP	W	L	OTL	SOL	GF	GA	Pts	Pts%
y – Adirondack Thunder (NJD)	72	43	18	7	4	241	212	97	0.674
x – Norfolk Admirals (CAR)/(WPG)	69	41	21	6	1	245	199	89	0.645
x – Trois-Rivières Lions (MTL)	69	31	30	5	3	204	229	70	0.507
x – Maine Mariners (BOS)	72	32	32	8	0	250	260	72	0.500
Worcester Railers (NYI)	72	32	32	5	3	210	238	72	0.500
Reading Royals (PHI)	72	29	35	6	2	198	247	66	0.458
coi – Newfoundland Growlers (TOR)	66	28	28	8	2	220	234	66	0.500

† Points percentage was used to determine playoff seedings due to the Newfoundland Growlers ceasing operations, causing the Norfolk Admirals and Trois-Rivières Lions to play three fewer games.

South Division	GP	W	L	OTL	SOL	GF	GA	Pts	Pts%
y – Greenville Swamp Rabbits (LAK)	72	44	23	4	1	224	212	93	0.646
x – Jacksonville Icemen (BUF)	72	42	23	6	1	238	195	91	0.632
x – Florida Everblades (FLA)	72	40	23	7	2	224	163	89	0.618
x – Orlando Solar Bears (TBL)	72	38	24	7	3	220	206	86	0.597
South Carolina Stingrays (WAS)	72	39	26	4	3	249	218	85	0.590
Savannah Ghost Pirates (VGK)	72	30	34	7	1	218	243	68	0.472
Atlanta Gladiators (NSH)	72	23	45	3	1	187	264	50	0.347

Western Conference[edit]

Central Division	GP	W	L	OTL	SOL	GF	GA	Pts	Pts%
y – Toledo Walleye (DET) ¹	71	48	14	4	5	289	209	105	0.739
x – Indy Fuel (CHI)	72	39	25	6	2	230	221	86	0.597
x –Wheeling Nailers (PIT) ¹	71	38	28	4	1	232	204	81	0.570
x –Kalamazoo Wings (VAN)	72	38	30	4	0	214	203	80	0.556
Fort Wayne Komets (EDM)	72	35	30	3	4	224	226	77	0.535
Cincinnati Cyclones (NYR)	72	31	34	7	0	236	261	69	0.479
Iowa Heartlanders (MIN)	72	27	37	6	2	186	250	62	0.431

¹ The Toledo Walleye at Wheeling Nailers game scheduled for April 12 was cancelled and was not rescheduled as there were no remaining playoff implications.

Mountain Division	GP	W	L	OTL	SOL	GF	GA	Pts	Pts%
z – Kansas City Mavericks (SEA)	72	54	12	4	2	305	202	114	0.792
x – Idaho Steelheads (DAL)	72	48	20	2	2	303	242	100	0.694
x – Allen Americans (OTT)	72	33	35	3	1	233	276	70	0.486
x – Tulsa Oilers (ANA)	72	30	33	8	1	222	233	69	0.479
Utah Grizzlies (COL)	72	31	36	5	0	227	264	67	0.465
Rapid City Rush (CGY)	72	30	38	4	0	236	280	64	0.444
Wichita Thunder (SJS)	72	27	35	9	1	220	271	64	0.444

Postseason[edit]

Playoffs format[edit]

At the end of the regular season, the top four teams in each division qualify for the 2024 Kelly Cup playoffs and are seeded one through four based on the highest points total earned in the regular season. The first two rounds of the playoffs are held within the division, with the first seed facing the fourth seed and the second seed facing the third seed. The division champions then play each other in a conference championship. The Kelly Cup finals pit the Eastern Conference champions against the Western Conference champions. All four rounds are a best-of-seven format.

Bracket[edit]

Division Semifinals^[6]

Division Finals

Conference Finals

Kelly Cup Finals

N1