Kalamazoo Wings sign one-year affiliation agreement with NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning

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(Photo by Kaileigh Brammer/MiHockey)

 

By @StefanKubus –

The Kalamazoo Wings will have a new NHL/AHL affiliation beginning in the 2016-17 season.

The K-Wings officially signed a one-year affiliation agreement with the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning and AHL’s Syracuse Crunch on Wednesday, marking Kalamazoo’s 11th NHL affiliation in its 43-year history. As the ECHL affiliate for Tampa Bay and Syracuse, the Lightning and Crunch will be able to assign players who are on NHL or AHL contracts to Kalamazoo.

“We can’t wait to get to work with Tampa Bay,” Wings head coach Nick Bootland said in a release. “They have been a hot-bed of talent in the last few years and their organization has been great to work with already.”

The K-Wings had been affiliated with the Columbus Blue Jackets for the past two seasons.