The Philadelphia Flyers today announced a two-year extension on their affiliation agreement with the Reading Royals, who will continue to serve as their primary ECHL affiliate through the 2026-27 season, according to General Manager, Daniel Briere.
"We are very happy to extend this affiliation with Reading," said Briere. "The Royals are a first-class organization and I've seen how beneficial this relationship is to the development of players on both the Phantoms and the Flyers, especially this season with Jacob Gaucher making his NHL debut and playing a pivotal role in Lehigh Valley."
"We’re excited to continue our affiliation agreement with the Flyers and Phantoms for the foreseeable future,” said David Farrar, Team President of the Reading Royals. “Since the Berks County Convention Center Authority (BCCCA) took over ownership of the Royals, we feel the relationship has been valuable to all parties involved. We’re all excited for the upcoming season and look forward to watching future Flyers take the ice at the Santander Arena.”
"The affiliation relationship with the Flyers and Phantoms has been a great asset to our players and team,” said Jason Binkley, Head Coach & General Manager of the Reading Royals. “We look forward to developing more players with the Flyers while achieving the ultimate goal of bringing the Kelly Cup back to Reading.”
This upcoming season will serve as the 11th consecutive year that the Flyers and Royals have had an affiliation agreement since the two clubs first entered into a partnership in June of 2014.
The trio affiliation is among the closest three-league chain in professional hockey with Reading's Santander Arena located 39 miles southwest of Lehigh Valley's PPL Center and 67 miles northwest of Philadelphia and Wells Fargo Center, while the Phantoms are located just 70 miles north of Wells Fargo Center.
This season, forward Jacob Gaucher made his NHL debut with the Flyers after spending parts of the two previous seasons with the Royals and the Phantoms. Additionally, both Rodrigo Abols and Anthony Richard have played in the ECHL during their career.
Under the affiliation agreement, the Royals will receive players designated for assignment from the Flyers and their American Hockey League affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Over parts of 10 seasons, there have been 51 players who have played for the Royals and have been recalled to Lehigh Valley or the Flyers and played at least one game.
Five total players have skated in at least one regular season game for the Flyers, who have also played with the Royals under the affiliation agreement (Jacob Gaucher, Tyrell Goulbourne, Hayden Hodgson, Felix Sandstrom, Max Willman).
The Royals recently completed their 23rd ECHL season and are proudly affiliated with the Philadelphia Flyers and Lehigh Valley Phantoms. They won their first Kelly Cup championship in 2013 and have clinched playoff berths in 13 of their latest 15 seasons. They are five-time division champions and were the 2021-22 Eastern Conference regular season
champion. The Berks County Convention Center Authority (BCCCA), founded in 1996, owns the Royals and oversees operations at Santander Arena.
