The Winnipeg Jets and Manitoba Moose will be extending their agreement with the Norfolk Admirals of the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) for the 2024-25 season. This is the sixth Norfolk Admirals affiliate since 2007, the most recent being with the Carolina Hurricanes for the 2021-22 season.

If you have been wondering, “Who are the Norfolk Admirals affiliated with?” we have a deeper look below. Fans wanting more updates on the Norfolk Admirals can check the latest hockey news at Overtime Heroics.

Admirals land extension. Who are the Norfolk Admirals affiliated with? The Winnipeg Jets announced that they, along with their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Manitoba Moose, have extended their partnership with the Admirals.

This is the sixth Norfolk Admirals affiliate going back to 2007. From 2007-2012, the team was affiliated with the Tampa Bay Lightning. From 2012-15, they were affiliated with the Anaheim Ducks. In 2015, they partnered with the Edmonton Oilers, then with the Nashville Predators in 2017 before partnering with the Carolina Hurricanes for the 2021-22 season.

What it means for the team. For the team, being affiliated with an NHL club is always a benefit. For starters, it elevates the profile of the team. That can make it a more attractive option for players looking to continue their journey to the pros.

It also helps that the Admirals see an infusion of talent in the form of Winnipeg Jets prospects. For example, during the team’s affiliation with the Jets in 2023-24, the Admirals had Jets prospects Thomas Milic (fifth round, 2023) and Dmitry Kuzmin (third round, 2021) play for them.

That infusion of young talent is always a good thing for an ECHL team. Creating a consistent winner at the ECHL level is tough but doing so can make the franchise more viable and create cohesion at all three levels of professional hockey.

Benefits of the affiliation. There are benefits for both the Jets and Moose as well. There are limited roster spots available in the AHL, so there may not always be room for prospects in the system. Having an affiliate in the ECHL means having a place where guys like Kuzmin and Milic, considered middle-tier prospects, can go to play.

More importantly, those guys get a chance to play a lot of minutes. That experience can be invaluable. Players may start with the Admirals but wind up playing with the Moose before long. In fact, seven guys – Milic, Kuzmin, Oskari Salminen, Mark Liwiski, Simon Kubicek, Carson Golder, and Thomas Caron – played for both the Admirals and Moose during the 2023-24 season.

At the end of the day, it helps the Jets ensure that there is always a place for their prospects to play. Being able to keep close tabs on the development of those prospects can potentially lead to a promotion that may not have happened without the system in place. That cohesion is one of the reasons why the Jets have consistently been such a solidly-run franchise.