It may have been premature when it leaked a week ago, but now it’s official, the Vegas Golden Knights have an ECHL affiliate.

The Quad City Mallards have entered into a multi-year agreement to serve as the ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Vegas Golden Knights and the American Hockey League’s Chicago Wolves, the Mallards announced today. –MyQCMallards.net

And with that, the Golden Knights’ minor league system is complete.

We believe that between the Mallards and our AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves, our players will effectively develop in each of those systems. Quad City has a rich hockey history and we are pleased to have entered into an affiliation relationship with them in our first season. -George McPhee in Press Release

The Golden Knights will be able to transfer players to and from Quad City at any point during the 2017-18 season and beyond. The Mallards will retain control over hockey operations and will keep head coach Phil Axtell.

We’re looking forward to welcoming players from our affiliation with the Golden Knights and the Wolves to the Mallards and our community. The opportunity to help those players improve, develop, grow and take steps toward playing in the AHL and eventually the NHL is always exciting -Axtell

So there you have it.

NHL – Golden Knights
AHL – Chicago Wolves
ECHL – Quad City Mallards