WORCESTER — Exercise is always a good thing.

Just ask the Worcester Railers and their new NHL partner, the New York Islanders. Their affiliation, announced here Thursday, got its start while Isles assistant to the general manager Kerry Gwydir was working out.

“I was in Los Angeles on a treadmill when I got a cold call from (Railers coach/general manager) Jamie Russell,” Gwydir recalled, “and as he told me about what was going on in Worcester, what their vision was there, what they were looking to do, I figured I’d better get off the treadmill and start thinking seriously about what he was saying.”

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The agreement is just for the 2017-18 season, which will be the Railers' first in the ECHL.

“The Islanders have a great track record of working with the ECHL,” Russell said. “We’re hoping this turns into a long-term relationship.”

Gwydir was joined in the Railers offices Thursday by Bridgeport Sound Tigers coach Brent Thompson, assistant coach Eric Boguniecki and Islanders player development director Eric Cairns.

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Boguniecki is a member of the Worcester Hockey Hall of Fame. His long pro career started and ended in the ECHL and included time with the IceCats, where he won the American Hockey League’s MVP award in 2001-02. Boguniecki went from there to the National Hockey League and a 22-goal season with the St. Louis Blues.

The Railers will be more involved with Bridgeport than the Islanders.

Relationships between NHL and ECHL teams vary greatly from franchise to franchise. The Railers were looking for a strong affiliation in which the parent team supplies several contract players and Worcester figures to get at least one goalie from the Isles and probably a couple of defensemen and two or three forwards.

Not only is the talent level higher among players under contract to an NHL organization, but the financial side works well for the ECHL team. The league has a weekly salary cap of $12,600, but teams are only charged $525 a week for contract players no matter how much they may be getting paid by the parent team.

The Islanders’ most recent ECHL affiliation was with the Missouri Mavericks of Independence, hometown of President Harry S Truman. In their two years with the Islanders, the Mavericks — owned by Lamar Hunt Jr. of the Kansas City Chiefs Hunts — compiled an 85-45-14 record.

While the affiliation did well on the ice, geography was an issue, another factor that worked in the Railers’ favor. Worcester is just a couple of hours from Bridgeport by car.

“We loved working with Lamar Hunt,” Gwydir said. “It was a first-class operation in every way.”

Russell said geography was a big consideration in the Railers’ search for an affiliate. Being just a car ride away will allow the Islanders’ player development coaches and officials to work directly with Worcester prospects.

The Railers’ general manager contacted NHL teams with nearby AHL affiliates and fairly quickly settled on the Islanders as having what Worcester was looking for. Isles officials came up for a visit early last winter, and the team invited Russell to part of its midseason organizational meeting.

“One thing Cliff (Rucker) believes in,” Russell said, “is doing business with somebody who wants to do business with you. The Islanders made it clear early that they wanted to do business with us.”

“We like the idea of symmetry throughout the organization,” Gwydir said, “and we like the symmetry that this will bring us.”

Russell is continuing to work on finding players to complement the prospects the Islanders send in. He has compiled a wish list of signees, one that is heavy on NCAA players, and has been having potential Railers in for visits throughout the winter.

“The feedback has been very positive so far,” he said.

The Railers have an affiliation, and feedback. They will begin to translate that into wins and losses on Oct. 14.

—Contact Bill Ballou at william.ballou@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillBallouTG.