The Avalanche will announce an upgraded minor-league partnership with the Loveland-based Colorado Eagles next month, with the current ECHL team becoming the 31st American Hockey League franchise, according to two sources close to the situation.

Beginning with the 2018-19 season, the Avs’ top prospects and veterans on assignments will play for the Colorado Eagles out of the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland. The Budweiser Events Center seats 5,289 for hockey but likely will be renovated to accommodate larger crowds.

The Avalanche’s current AHL affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage, will partner with the St. Louis Blues starting in 2018-19, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, which reported that the Blues and Rampage have agreed to a five-year contract. The Blues don’t currently have an AHL affiliate. They are sharing the Chicago Wolves with the NHL expansion Vegas Golden Knights for the upcoming season.

With Vegas now in the mix, there are 31 NHL teams. But still just 30 AHL teams.

The Eagles, who won the Kelly Cup as league champions in June, are currently the Avs’ ECHL affiliate, but most players at that level don’t make it to the NHL. The AHL is the second-best hockey league in North America, stocked with future young NHL stars, while the ECHL is a double-A league mostly consisting of journeyman players. Most of the current Eagles’ players will have to find jobs elsewhere.

The Avs, citing their contract with the Rampage, declined comment, but vice president Jean Martineau confirmed the team’s contract with San Antonio ends after the 2017-18 season. Eagles general manager Chris Stewart could not be reached for comment. Related Articles September 18, 2020 Avalanche re-signs former DU star Logan O’Connor on two-year contract

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Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic and AHL president/CEO David Andrews watched several Eagles home games last season, and in June, Stewart told The Denver Post that his team was trying to partner with the AHL and the Avalanche.

“Obviously, (with) the proximity and logistics, there’s a lot of sense for an affiliation that could possibly take us to the American Hockey League,” Stewart said.

The Budweiser Events Center, a county-owned facility, has sold out 431 hockey games in 14 seasons. It opened in 2003.

“I don’t believe that the AHL would accept the building as it sits today,” Stewart said in June. “I’m not just talking about seats. The facility in general, the locker rooms, I do think there would have to be some mitigation done to the building to help facilitate an American Hockey League franchise if we went in that direction.”

A look at Colorado’s all-time pro hockey teams

The Colorado Eagles will become the state’s first team in the American Hockey League, the NHL’s primary feeder league. A look at Colorado’s all-time professional hockey teams:

National Hockey League

Colorado Avalanche (1995-present)

Colorado Rockies (1976-1982)

World Hockey Association

Denver Spurs (1975-78)

Central Hockey League

Denver Cutthroats (2012-14)

Rocky Mountain Rage (2006-09)

Colorado Eagles (2003-2011)

Colorado Flames (1982-84)

Denver Spurs (1974-75)

International Hockey League

Denver Grizzlies (1994-95)

Colorado Rangers (1987-89)

Denver Mavericks (1959-60)

United States Hockey League

Denver Falcons (1950-51)

West Coast Hockey League

Colorado Gold Kings (1998-2002)

Western Hockey League

Denver Spurs (1968-74)

Denver Invaders (1963-64)

ECHL

Colorado Eagles (2011-present)