How ECHL Realignment Could Affect the Kansas City Mavericks

As it currently sits, the ECHL has 30 teams in four divisions. Another team, the Augusta Lynx, is scheduled to join the league for the 2027-28 season. While the Iowa Heartlanders are voluntarily suspended, this leaves a question. If the Heartlanders move, where will they go? And how could that affect the Kansas City Mavericks?

First, how would a Heartlanders move affect the Mavericks? When the Augusta Lynx join in 2027, they will likely join the South Division, joining fellow Georgia teams Atlanta and Savannah. That means the only division with fewer than 8 teams would be the Central, which just gained the Wheeling Nailers after the Utah Grizzlies moved to Trenton to become the Ironhawks. Yes, this does get confusing quickly. The Iowa Heartlanders were part of the Central division, which now stretches from West Virginia to Illinois. So, if the Heartlanders leave (checks notes) Coralville, Iowa, a suburb of Iowa City, Iowa, how would this affect the Kansas City Mavericks?  

Simply, the Mavericks are the farthest east team in the Mountain Division, putting them as the team most likely to get moved over to the Central Division if an additional team gets added to the Mountain Division. This would push the Mavs away from Tulsa, Wichita, and Allen and towards Kalamazoo, Wheeling, and Toledo. Making the closest road game for Mavs fans being Bloomington, which is a five-and-a-half-hour drive compared to Wichita, which is a two-and-a-half-hour drive. So where in the Central Division footprint could the Heartlanders move to?

Quickly, Des Moines, the largest city in Iowa, is off the table, as the Iowa Wild and Des Moines Buccaneers call Des Moines home. Cedar Rapids is north of Coralville and has the Rough Riders. Davenport doesn’t have an arena; The rest of the state either has a USHL team or doesn’t have the population to support a team.  

One state up, however, Rochester, Minnesota, hasn’t had high-level pro hockey since the 70s. The arena situation is more of an issue there. The Mayo Civic Center seats 5,200 comparable to other ECHL teams like the Idaho Steelheads, Kalamazoo Wings, Wheeling Nailers, and the arena the Heartlanders were playing at. However, the configuration for hockey could be challenging, as the arena is a horseshoe with retractable bleachers to enclose the playing surface. Not a horrible place.  

Illinois has an interesting choice in Springfield. Home to a NAHL team, Springfield has a metro of over 500,000 people and a 10,000-seat arena. With only one slight issue. Springfield can’t support a pro sports team. The Springfield Jr. Blues are the oldest team at 33 years old. The next oldest can barely vote, and I’m not entirely sure that those teams exist. Would it be nice? Sure. Would it work? Probably not, and we’d be having the same discussion when that team has to move too.  

A city that is kind of in the footprint is Louisville, Kentucky. A city underrepresented in pro sports has been making some noise to get pro teams. More importantly for Louisville is that they have a wide selection of arenas to choose from. The Yum Center, Broadbent Arena, and Freedom Hall. The last two have a history of hosting hockey teams. Nontraditional hockey markets have become a staple in the ECHL. Tahoe, Allen, the entire southern division. For the best fit, Broadbent or Freedom Hall seems like the better fits as Broadbent seats 6,600 and Freedom Hall seats 18,865. Broadbent has hosted ECHL teams there from 1990 until 1998.  

Lansing, Michigan, is a sneaky choice for a landing spot, as the Munn Ice Arena has 6,470 seats and Lansing has a metro of 473,203.

Could it be Madison, Wisconsin, which has an even larger metro and the Kohl Center, a 15,511-seat arena, a landing spot? Who knows.

Outside the Central division, there are cities to the west that could affect the Mavericks by pushing them into the Central division. Three contenders I can see west of KC. Omaha, with either Baxter Arena or CHI Health Arena. Colorado Springs with Broadmoor World Arena, and Oklahoma City with Paycom Arena. These are all good spots for teams, just probably more if Bloomington, New Mexico, Reading, or Trenton have to move.  

So, Mavericks fans should be very interested in what the Heartlanders ownership group decides to do. As it could affect where and who the Mavericks play in the coming seasons. The most likely outcome is that the Heartlanders fold, and the ECHL has a hole that will be filled by a team at a later date after plenty of other chaos that follows the league.