The 2018–19 AHL season was the 83rd

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

. The regular season began October 5, 2018 and ended April 15, 2019. The

2019 Calder Cup playoffs The 2019 Calder Cup playoffs of the American Hockey League began on April 17, 2019 with the playoff format that was introduced in 2016. The sixteen teams that qualified, four from each division, play a best-of-five series in the division semifinal ...

followed the conclusion of the regular season.

League changes

The league expanded by adding the

Colorado Eagles The Colorado Eagles are a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Loveland, Colorado. The Eagles play in the Pacific Division of the American Hockey League. The Eagles were founded as an expansion franchise in 2003 in the Central Hoc ...

to the Pacific Division and moved the two Texas-based teams to the Central Division from the Pacific. The

Cleveland Monsters The Cleveland Monsters are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). The team began play in 2007 as the Lake Erie Monsters and since 2015 has served as the top affiliate of the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hock ...

were moved from the Central to the North Division. Similar to the California and Arizona teams in the Pacific Division, Colorado plays 68 games in the regular season. This gave the Pacific Division a balanced schedule for the first time since its creation in 2015 and removed the necessity for playoff qualification based on

points percentage Point or points may refer to: Places * Point, Lewis, a peninsula in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland * Point, Texas, a city in Rains County, Texas, United States * Point, the NE tip and a ferry terminal of Lismore, Inner Hebrides, Scotland * Point ...

. Continuing from previous seasons, the teams in the Atlantic, North, and Central Divisions all play 76 games. The Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy for the regular season champion is still awarded based on points percentage.

Team and NHL affiliation changes

After the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL) added the

Vegas Golden Knights The Vegas Golden Knights are a professional ice hockey team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference. Founded in 2017 as an expan ...

for the 2017–18 season, the NHL had 31 teams while the AHL still had 30. After exploring other AHL expansion options, the NHL Vegas expansion team eventually affiliated with the

Chicago Wolves The Chicago Wolves are a professional ice hockey team playing in the American Hockey League and are the top minor-league affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League. The Wolves play home games at the Allstate Arena in the C ...

on a multi-year agreement. The affiliation with the Wolves left their former affiliate, the

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the ...

, without an affiliate and the Blues would send players to the Wolves and the

San Antonio Rampage The San Antonio Rampage were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League based in San Antonio, Texas. The Rampage was primarily owned by Spurs Sports & Entertainment throughout the team's existence. In 2020, the franchise was sold ...

, the affiliate of the

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The Avalanche play thei ...

. After the 2017 Board of Governors meeting, the league confirmed that it had made a commitment to an expansion applicant for a 31st team for the 2018–19 season later revealed to be the

. The Eagles organization had been a member of the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The E ...

prior to the promotion and was the affiliate of the Avalanche. The Eagles join other recently added ECHL markets in the AHL such as Bakersfield, Charlotte, Ontario, and Stockton. The Blues then became the primary affiliate of the Rampage.

Affiliation changes

Final standings

''indicates team has clinched division and a playoff spot''
''indicates team has clinched a playoff spot''
''indicates team has been eliminated from playoff contention''

Eastern Conference

As of April 14, 2019

Western Conference

As of April 14, 2019

Statistical leaders

Leading skaters

The following players are sorted by points, then goals. Updated as of April 14, 2019. ''GP = Games played; G =

Goal A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or ai ...

s; A =

Assist Assist or ASSIST may refer to: Sports Several sports have a statistic known as an "assist", generally relating to action by a player leading to a score by another player on their team: *Assist (basketball), a pass by a player that facilitates a ba ...

s; Pts = Points; +/– = Plus-minus; PIM =

Penalty minutes A penalty in ice hockey is a punishment for an infringement of the rules. Most penalties are enforced by sending the offending player to a penalty box for a set number of minutes. During the penalty the player may not participate in play. Penaltie ...

Leading goaltenders

The following goaltenders with a minimum 1500 minutes played lead the league in

goals against average Goals against average (GAA) also known as "average goals against" or "AGA" is a statistic used in field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and water polo that is the mean of goals allowed per game by a goaltender or goalkeeper (depending on s ...

. Updated as of April 14, 2019. ''GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (in minutes); SA = Shots against; GA = Goals against; SO =

Shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

s; GAA = Goals against average; SV% =

Save percentage Save percentage (often known by such symbols as SV%, SVS%, SVP, PCT) is a statistic in various goal-scoring sports that track saves as a statistic. In ice hockey and lacrosse, it is a statistic that represents the percentage of shots on goal ...

; W = Wins; L = Losses; OT =

Overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society) ...

shootout A shootout, also called a firefight or gunfight, is a fight between armed combatants using firearms. The term can be used to describe any such fight, though it is typically used to describe those that do not involve military forces or only invo ...

loss''

Calder Cup playoffs

Playoff format

The

format was retained from the divisional format of the

2016 Calder Cup playoffs The 2016 Calder Cup playoffs were held from April 20 to June 11, 2016, to determine the season champion of the American Hockey League (AHL). The 16 teams that qualified, eight from each conference, played best-of-five series in the division semif ...

. During the regular season, teams receive two points for a win and one point for an overtime or shootout loss. The top four teams in each division ranked by points qualify for the 2019 Calder Cup playoffs. The 2019 Calder Cup playoffs features a divisional playoff format, leading to conference finals and ultimately the Calder Cup finals. The division semifinals are best-of-five series; all subsequent rounds are best-of-seven.

Bracket

AHL awards

All-Star Teams

First All-Star Team *

Alex Nedeljkovic Alexander Nedeljkovic ( ', born January 7, 1996) is an American professional ice hockey goaltender for the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nedeljkovic was selected by the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round (37th over ...

(G) – Charlotte * John Gilmour (D) – Hartford * Zach Redmond (D) – Rochester *

Jeremy Bracco Jeremy Bracco (born March 17, 1997) is an American professional ice hockey forward who is currently playing with Barys Astana in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). He was selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs, 61st overall, in the 2015 NHL Entry ...

(F) – Toronto * Daniel Carr (F) – Chicago *

Carter Verhaeghe Carter Verhaeghe ( ; born August 14, 1995) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre for the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted in the third round, 82nd overall in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft by the Toronto Mapl ...

(F) – Syracuse Second All-Star Team * Shane Starrett (G) – Bakersfield * Aaron Ness (D) – Hershey * Ethan Prow (D) – Wilkes-Barre/Scranton * Tyler Benson (F) – Bakersfield * Chris Mueller (F) – Toronto * Andrew Poturalski (F) – Charlotte All-Rookie Team * Shane Starrett (G) – Bakersfield *

Jake Bean Jake Bean (born June 9, 1998) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who currently plays for the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League (NHL). Bean was drafted in the first round, 13th overall in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft b ...

(D) – Charlotte *

Mitch Reinke Mitchell Jon Reinke (born February 4, 1996) is an American professional ice hockey Defenceman, defenseman who is currently playing with the Coachella Valley Firebirds in the American Hockey League (AHL) while under contract with the Seattle Krake ...

(D) – San Antonio *

Drake Batherson Drake Batherson (born April 27, 1998) is an American-born Canadian professional ice hockey right winger currently playing for the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League. He was drafted by the Ottawa Senators in the fourth round, 121st overa ...

(F) – Belleville * Tyler Benson (F) – Bakersfield *

Alex Barre-Boulet Alex is a given name. It can refer to a shortened version of Alexander, Alexandra, Alexis_(given_name), Alexis. People Multiple *Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people *Alex Gordon (disambiguation), multiple people *Alex Harris (disambigu ...

(F) – Syracuse

References

External links

AHL official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:2018-19 AHL season American Hockey League seasons 2018–19 in American ice hockey by league 2018–19 in Canadian ice hockey by league