The Boston Bruins announced via a team release Monday morning that the team has signed a two-year extension of their affiliation agreement with the ECHL’s Maine Mariners. The move locks in some organizational stability and will make Maine the team’s longest-tenured ECHL affiliate since a five-year partnership with the Atlanta Gladiators from 2015 to 2020.
While it’s a rare occurrence nowadays for NHL teams to send skaters multiple levels down to the ECHL, it remains a viable and well-tracked development path for netminders to get heavy workloads as they graduate from junior or college programs. The Bruins currently have one prospect under NHL contract assigned to Maine: 23-year-old netminder Michael DiPietro, acquired from Vancouver earlier this season.
It’s also an impactful choice for the team’s AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins, who make transactions with the ECHL much more regularly. The newly-minted general manager of Providence, Evan Gold, gave a statement on the extension:
We are thrilled to extend our affiliation agreement with the Maine Mariners. The collaboration between Boston, Providence and Maine has been instrumental in helping our prospects improve not only their hockey skillsets on the ice, but also their work ethic and approach to becoming professionals off the ice. We are excited to continue to partner with the Mariners’ coaching staff and front office as we strive to provide the best development opportunities for our players.
For Boston, the extension keeps its entire professional development system locked within New England, with its minor-league affiliates nearby.
The affiliation agreement, previously set to expire after this season, will now last through the 2024-25 campaign.