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The city of Binghamton won’t be left empty-handed when the Senators leave town next season.

Sources told Postmedia the AHL’s board of governors has cleared the way for the New Jersey Devils to move their affiliate from Albany to Binghamton next season to replace the Senators, who have purchased the franchise and will move it to Belleville for the 2017-18 campaign.

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It’s believed the AHL board rubber-stamped the deal during a meeting Sunday and Baby Sens VP of operations Tom Mitchell is expected confirm the deal during a press conference Tuesday afternoon in Binghamton.

An Albany newspaper reported last week the Devils were moving their affiliate to Binghamton because of attendance issues. Mitchell was tight-lipped with reporters at the AHL’s all-star festivities in Allentown, PA.

“Everything went great in the meeting, but it wouldn’t be appropriate for me quite yet to make any further comments,” Mitchell told 12 Sports of Binghamton. “The next few days we’ll be able to say a lot more. I said a long time ago that our organization is not going anywhere, and neither is the American Hockey League.”

Senators assistant GM Randy Lee, who played a big role in owner Eugene Melnyk’s purchase of the Binghamton franchise, has worked hard to make sure that the city would have a replacement for the Senators.

bgarrioch@postmedia.com

Twitter: @sungarrioch