SUNRISE, Fla. – The Florida Panthers announced today that the club has entered a three-year affiliation extension with the Savannah Ghost Pirates of the ECHL through the 2028-29 season. The Ghost Pirates will continue to serve as the ECHL affiliate for the Panthers as well as its American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers.
“The Savannah Ghost Pirates have been a tremendous partner in our player development pipeline, and we are pleased to extend our affiliation agreement,” said Panthers Senior Vice President, Hockey Operations Paul Krepelka. “Along with our AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers, we look forward to building on the strong relationships we have established within our system to ensure the continued success and growth of our players and staff.”
“We are extremely excited to continue our partnership with the Florida Panthers and the Charlotte Checkers,” said John Thompson, Executive Vice President of Zawyer Sports Savannah. “We want to thank the entire Panthers organization as we continue to build success over the next three seasons.”
The Ghost Pirates are based out of Enmarket Arena in Savannah, Georgia. Officially approved as an expansion franchise in January of 2021, the Ghost Pirates became the Panthers ECHL affiliate prior to the start of the 2024-25 campaign playing in the South Division of the ECHL’s Eastern Conference. Savannah qualified for the Kelly Cup Playoffs for the first time in franchise history in 2025-26, finishing fourth in the South Division standings.
The 2026-27 Ghost Pirates will open their fifth season on Friday, Oct. 16 when they host the Norfolk Admirals at Enmarket Arena.
The ECHL is the leading professional developmental league for the American Hockey League and the National Hockey League. The league began in 1988-89 with five teams in three states and now spans coast-to-coast, with 30 teams playing in 22 states and provinces. There have been more than 780 former ECHL players who have gone on to play in the NHL after playing in the ECHL, including Panthers skaters Carter Verhaeghe (Missouri, 2015-16 to 2016-17) and Donovan Sebrango (Toledo/Allen, 2022-23 to 2023-24).
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