Yeah, no way it was the Charlotte franchise. IIRC, Dundon had some sort of ties to the owners of one of the other franchises that was in flux in that timeframe. Pandemic did a real number on the finances for AHL teams that rent municipal arenas, so a lot of them were on the market back then. I just don't think Dundon sees the AHL as a profit opportunity, which is fair because it pretty much isn't. Not on any meaningful scale at least. But sooner or later the extra energy expended by being a vagabond affiliate partner will take its own financial toll. It already cost us a year's worth of prospect development and that's hurt a great deal. When you aren't providing a consistent flow of young, cheap players you have to spend actual money on free agents to fill the holes. You absolutely should be able to produce your own depth guys if nothing else and constantly dueling with your AHL club's management puts a kink in the pipeline.
Since the Checkers are owned by sports investment bros now, maybe there's an opportunity for Dundon to reconnect or partner up in a couple of years.
