Lang
5/19/26
The Minnesota Wild are moving on from the Iowa Heartlanders.
The Heartlanders had been a Wild minor league affiliate ever since the Coralville-based team first took the ice in 2021. But Minnesota has announced a new contract with Jacksonville to make the Icemen the NHL team’s official ECHL affiliate. Jacksonville…which has led the ECHL in sellouts over the last four years…was previously an affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres.
The Heartlanders announced earlier this year that the team was suspending operations for the 2026-2027 season while ownership looked for new local investors. Because the Wild’s deal with Jacksonville is a multi-year contract, even if Iowa fields a team for the 2027-2028 season it would have to seek new NHL affiliation.