Allen Americans Affiliate at Ottawa/Belleville Senators – The Details

Here is the press release announcing the connection: https://allenamericans.com/news/2025/08/americans-nounce-nhlahl-affiliation

The long journey to acquire a bond for the Allen-Americans has finally flourished with a one-year agreement with the senators of Ottawa/Belleville. Questions about the connection was the #1 question that I was asked all summer about, so now that the question has been answered, I got the chance to get Steve Martinson’s complete story about the process and the results.

-The very first step took Martinson when he and Myles Jack shaked a coaching agreement, long before the press release announced his selection of 12 May, was to send an e -mail to every NHL team. Although he knew that teams did not automatically change those who work, and many were already committed before 2025-26, he wanted all NHL teams to know that he would coach in all and were looking for a connection. In case someone wanted to make a change.

– The reality of the affiliation situation became clear very early. All was the only Echl team without a connection, and there were only three NHL teams that had no connection: the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Utah Mammoth and the Ottawa Senators. Complicating things was the fact that all had an affiliation history with Utah (2024-25) and Ottawa (2022-23 & 2023-24) before Martinson arrived. Allen left the Ottawa affiliation without mercy after the 2023-24 season, which wants to create a number of evil for various reasons. The connection of Utah last season was a problem from the perspective of Martinson, because he believes that having two contracted goalkeepers who have been assigned with very little assigned skaters causes a problem and the communication with Utah was not very good.

– Columbus was very early in the trial out of the picture, so Martinson spent weeks with Utah and Ottawa. There was a time when it seemed realistic that all would not have a connection. Ottawa liked to work informally with Orlando, as they had done in 2023-24, and things changed to Utah when it was announced that the Utah Grizzlies were sold and would move.

– In my opinion there are a number of reasons why Allen and Ottawa eventually came to an agreement. First, Steve Martinson was handled the negotiations, unlike the last two seasons when Zawyer made the decisions. His 30 years of experience gives him a big advantage when talking to teams about affiliation. He is very good at selling what he can do for the affiliated company, but is also not afraid to share what he needs of them, because he is not looking for a promoted an AHL job like as many Echl coaches. The second reason that this came out was the fact that Ottawa called a new general manager for the Belleville Senators, about the same time that Martinson was selected in all. His name is Matt Turek, and before his selection he was the general director of the OHL Hamilton/Brantford Bulldogs, a team that was previously owned by Micheal Andlaer, who now owns both the senators of Ottawa and De Belleville.

Turek played professional hockey in both the Echl and the old Central Hockey League, so he understands how the Echl works. Just as important, as general manager in the OHL, just like Martinson in the Echl, Turek was the decision maker, so he knew all the players in all teams.

Martinson and Turek had developed several conversations and the potential for a good working relationship for more than months. One thing they had in common was a similar approach to the playing style that their teams would play. Recently Turek, together with Sean McCauley, manager of hockey activities for Belleville, made the decision to recommend a bond with all the command structure. McCauley had spent time in all under the previous band with Ottawa. With the support of Turek and McCauley, the obstacles from the past were overcome and the agreement for a one -year connection was concluded.

– What does the connection mean for the Americans?

• Martinson has signed and announced from the players, Braidan Simmons-Fischer And Carter Savoie participates in the Ottawa prospect tournament that will be held in Montreal on 13-14 September. The four teams participating in what is called the “Prospect Showdown” are Montreal (host), Toronto, Ottawa and Winnipeg.
• There may be others who attend the prospect camp that have not yet been announced. This would have been signed by Martinson, but also spoken with and supported by Belleville. These are not players who do Belleville a favor for Martinson. These are legitimate platform players for Belleville who will probably see time in the AHL. Turek and Martinson work together to sell opportunities and availability.
• As part of the connection, all players already get under the NHL/AHL contract from Ottawa/Belleville. The song will not be great, but the players who all get are top players in the Echl.
• Looking at the Ottawa goalkeeper depth card, I expect Rookie goalkeeper Jackson Parsons, who recently signed a 3-year entry contract with Ottawa, will start the season in all. The 20-year-old comes from the Ottawa area and was dedicated to Clarkson College, but jumped on the chance of signing a 3-year deal with his home base. Parsons played for Kitchener in the OHL in 2024-25 and had a breakout season. In 52 games he had a record of 37-12-3 with a 2.24 GAA EN .920 savings percentage. For his efforts, Parsons was selected as the OHL goalkeeper of the year. He also received the CHL (Canadian Hockey League) goalie of the year Award. The CHL includes all three big junior competitions in Canada (WHL, OHL, QMJHL).
• All will also have many players to attend the Belleville training camp. Names that must be announced later.
• Carter Savoie is the only player who will participate in the NHL training camp of Ottawa, after the prospect tournament.

Other comments

-Sometimes this week you hear names of all -players from last season sign with other Echl teams, some in the Mountain Division. As coach Martinson said, the way he built his selection, and the bond with Ottawa that became reality, required him that he would release/exchange some players from last season.

– I posted this in the last blog, but wanted to record it again because this item is definitely a unique. I hope to tell a story about the final winner of the auction. The current bid is $ 650 and there are still six days to offer. In my opinion, the most meaningful piece of the history of all has ever set up an auction.

The dressing room of Allen Americans undergoes a full renovation for the first time since 2009. That is the logo in the carpet in the middle of the dressing room. Four championships, champagne, beer and every player in the history of all have adorned that logo. And if you are an old reader of the blog, there might be some crow chili spilled on that logo (no spot). The dimensions are 12’9 “x 12’9”, and it is in surprisingly good shape for its age, plus it has a lot of character. Here is the link to the auction, which will close to Labor Day: https://fans.winwithdash.com/event/68A49648CEF70A0008267083

-Here is the Echl -Statistics Post from yesterday with the 16 former Echl players who debuted in the NHL last season. The only player of all on the list is Donovan Sebrango. It is difficult to forget the opening match of the 2023-24 season. Allen was more than 45-19, but defeated Idaho on the road, 5-2, while Leevi Merilainen was in goal for a long time. The Trivia question from that match was: “Who scored the first goal for the Americans to start the 2023-24 season? The answer is defender Donovan Sebrango.