The ECHL Kansas City Mavericks gave their parent organization, the Seattle Kraken, a lot to be proud of in 2025-26. The best regular season record in the league, three playoff series victories, the second trip to the Kelly Cup Finals in three years, the ECHL MVP and coach of the year.
Just don’t expect that success to have too much bearing on the ice for the Kraken in future seasons. Because it likely won’t. Relatively few ECHL players reach the NHL, and fewer make a significant impact.
That’s not to demean the development league. By the standards of mere mortals, these pros are fabulous hockey players. It’s just that even with 32 NHL clubs, there are too many even more fabulous players in their way.
But hey, the ECHL to NHL leap does happen. Ask former Kraken fan favorite Yanni Gourde, now back with the Tampa Bay Lightning, where he won two Stanley Cups. Gourde was one of the original ECHL San Francisco Bulls in 2012-13. (Without Yanni, the Bulls folded in the middle of the following season.)
ECHL’s Proud History
The circuit, founded in 1988 as the East Coast Hockey League, changed to ECHL in 2003 when it expanded across the U.S. and Canada. These days, it serves as a developmental league for both the NHL and AHL.
The K.C. Mavericks play in the 31st largest metro area in the U.S. Only four of the 30 ECHL teams are located in larger markets: the Atlanta Gladiators, Orlando Solar Bears, Allen (Dallas) Americans, and Cincinnati Cyclones.
According to the league website, 782 ECHL alumni have made it to the NHL. (It might actually be 783; oddly, Kraken goalie Joey Daccord, a former Brampton Beast, was left off the alumni list.) Among the most recognizable names are Jonathan Quick, Dan Girardi and Alex Burrows.
Not the most famous, but my personal favorite to play in both circuits was Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond. He appeared for three clubs in both the ECHL and NHL. Besides leading both leagues in hyphens, Letourneau-Leblond’s Wikipedia page says, “He is also known for having one of the longest names in all of sports.”
Current Kraken With ECHL Connections
Not including goaltenders, only two members of the current Kraken roster have ever played in the ECHL. Freddy Gaudreau spent 14 games with Cincinnati in 2014-15; Bobby McMann split 22 games in 2020-22 between Wichita and Newfoundland.
It’s much more common for goalies to make the jump. Both Kraken netminders apprenticed in the ECHL at the start of their careers. Philipp Grubauer spent 59 games total in South Carolina and Reading from 2011-13; Daccord made 12 appearances for Brampton in 2019-20.
Since goalie prospect Victor Ostman played in Kraken game-82 last season, he belongs on this list as well. Ostman had the singular distinction in 2024-25 of seeing action in three leagues: the NHL with Seattle (1 game), at AHL Coachella Valley (5), and ECHL Kansas City (32).
And let’s not forget the radio play-by-play voice of the Kraken, Everett Fitzhugh, who once broadcast Cincinnati Cyclones games. Fitzhugh’s success is a reminder that the value of an ECHL affiliation can include off-ice personnel – coaches, support staff, front-office executives and more. The Mavs’ success only burnishes the Kraken organization’s reputation.
The Splitting-Time Nine
If Mavericks are highly unlikely to become Kraken, what’s the value of having a second tier of minor league affiliate?
There are several reasons an NHL club will summon players during the season from their AHL farm team.
The cause could be an injury, a trade, or other player absence. The parent club might decide a minor league prospect is ready for “the show.”
When Seattle summons one or more players from Coachella Valley, that leaves the Firebirds with holes on its roster. Coachella Valley then turns to Kansas City for replacements.
Here are the nine members of the Western Conference champion Mavericks who got duty with the Firebirds during the 2025-26 season.
- Jackson Berezowski, F (age 24, 9 games)
- Drake Burgin, D (age 25, 1 game)
- Justin Janicke, F (age 22, 11 games) *(1)
- Jack LaFontaine, G (age 28, 5 games) *(2)
- Landon McCallum, F (age 22, 3 games)
- Jakov Novak, F (age 27, 37 games) *(3)
- Logan Terness, G (age 23, 2 games)
- Zachary Uens, D (age 25, 21 games) *(4)
- Charlie Wright, D (age 22, 46 games)
*(1) 2021 7th round draft pick by Seattle
*(2) 2016 3rd round draft pick by Carolina
*(3) 2018 7rd round draft pick by Ottawa
*(4) 2020 4th round draft pick by Florida
Valtteri Piironen, a 24 year old Finnish defenseman who played in the ECHL at Norfolk, suited up for one Firebirds game.
(Editor’s Note: I too, am an ECHL alum’ of sorts. While jumping all over the US producing and hosting a TV show for Leafs TV in the early 2000’s, I also double dipped by doing the regular season road games and all of the playoff games as a radio play-by-play guy for the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies (since defunct) for two seasons. The team won the Kelly Cup championship in 2003, and believe me, it was no small task. It’s a grind and a battle and quite the celebration, just as it is at the NHL and AHL levels. — R.S.)
Earlier Kraken:
— Kraken Help Power Seattle Pride Weekend; Queer Pride On Ice
