The North American Hockey Landscape
The National Hockey League sits atop the North American hockey landscape. Beneath it, there are several affiliated and unaffiliated minor leagues to develop players.
The AHL serves as the NHL's primary development league, with teams directly affiliated with parent NHL franchises. The ECHL is a mid-level professional league one tier below the AHL. The FPHL and SPHL are unaffiliated professional leagues within the United States — players from these leagues frequently progress to higher levels.
| North American Hockey's Professional Leagues | ||
|---|---|---|
| Level | League | Teams |
| 1 | NHL | 32 |
| 2 | AHL | 32 |
| 3 | ECHL | 30 |
| 4 | FPHL | 14 |
| 4 | SPHL | 10 |
| Total | 118 teams | |
Below is a map showing all the major and minor hockey leagues within the United States and Canada.
Click a point to see team info. Use the Leagues panel inside the map to toggle leagues on and off.
Loading teams...
Loading teams...