Blame, or credit it, on artificial ice.
The hockey season never ends.
The Stanley Cup finals are not yet over, nor has the Kelly Cup champion been crowned. While Florida and Kansas City battle for the ECHL title, the league is taking care of roster business to prepare for 2026-27.
The Railers are looking forward and backwards as the first official day of summer approaches. They have compiled their protected list, which will include some of next season’s players but not some key ones.
That shorter list will include talent sent to them from their new National Hockey League affiliate via an American Hockey League partner. Who those teams are will be revealed Saturday aftenoon at the Fidelity Bank Ice Center. Railers owner Cliff Rucker is expected to be on hand, possibly officials from Worcester’s two new affiliates as well as well.
There are 28 players on the protected list, which is very preliminary. That list shrinks as the season approaches, going from players who might possibly be on the end-of-season roster, to players who might be at training camp to players who actually will be on the ice when the season opens on Oct. 17 versus Maine at the DCU Center.
The protected list is the starting line for 2026-27, not the finish.
It includes just one goaltender, Holy Cross alum Thomas Gale.
Gale spent most of 2025-26 as insurance but got more game action in the season’s final weeks. Gale won four of his last five starts, the last three in a row. He posted a 2.19 goals-against average in those five final starts and a .923 saves percentage.
There are 14 protected forwards, all but one of whom skated for the Railers last season. That group includes Jordan Kaplan, Drew Callin, Riley Piercey, Anthony Callin, Anthony Repaci, Cole Donhauser, Matt DeMelis, MacAuley Carson, Lincoln Hatten, Dalton Duhart, Riley Ginnell, Ryan Miotto and Declan McDonnell.
J.D. Dudek, who has had two separate stints with the Railers, is also protected but did not play for Worcester in 2025-26.
The list of defensemen includes 13 players including some interesting names from the recent past — Connor Welsh, Mason Klee and Griffin Luce. They are joined by Vinny Corcoran, Michael Suda, Adam Samuelsson, Cam McDonald, Connor Federkow, Xavier Jean-Louis, Max Ruoho, Anthony Hora, Gabe Blanchard and Matt Stief.
Teams are allowed to protect as many players as they wish provided the players on the list meet the complex guidelines as defined in the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the ECHL and the Professional Hockey Players’ Association.
Protected lists may exceed 20 players.
The ECHL also announced that teams must complete all Future Consideration trades by 3 p.m. ET on June 20 and that teams must submit their Season-Ending Roster by 3 p.m. ET on June 22.
Season-ending rosters may include up to 20 players and cannot include any players who did not sign an ECHL contract in 2025-26.
Saturday’s announcement will inaugurate a new chapter in Railers history. To date their only primary National Hockey League affiliate has been the New York Islanders, although they have also also gotten players from the St. Louis Blues through Springfield and New York Rangers via the Hartford WolfPack.
While the Islanders were interested in continuing their relationship with Worcester, the Railers were not so much. The team made the playoffs only once during the affiliation and their American Hockey League partner in Bridgeport has relocated to Hamilton, Ontario.
The Islanders’ new ECHL affiliate will be in Trenton, N.J.
Their old one will still be here but with a fresh look at the ECHL North standings, a look the Railers hope will be from top down as oppposed to the other way around.
