NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. – Every offseason brings change.

After losing in the South Division Finals of the Kelly Cup Playoffs a season ago, the offseason brought the South Carolina Stingrays plenty.

A new coaching staff, 19 new players, and a new identity.

South Carolina made one of the biggest splashes in the ECHL this offseason with the hiring of Head Coach Jesse Kallechy, who brought with him his longtime Associate Coach, Cory Melkert, from the Fort Wayne Komets.

The two joined South Carolina in June and immediately began shaping their roster, one that will look much different than what the Stingrays have seen in recent years, but one that will compete every single night.

“We're hoping to be a team that puts pressure everywhere on the ice,” said Kallechy. “A team that's fun to watch because we have the puck a lot and we score a lot of goals. And when we don't have the puck, we're going to pressure to get it back so we can go score goals. We have a really talented group.”

Along with what Kallechy believes is a talented group is also an experienced one. The Stingrays’ 2026 Season Opening Roster of 25 players has skated in 2,460 games in the ECHL and 3,888 games in all levels of professional hockey, both in North America and overseas. Signing experienced players and veterans was a large part of the vision for the Stingrays when making this roster.

“You look at teams that have won in this league and there hasn't been a lot of rookies,” said Kallechy. “You go back to the Conference Finals last year with Fort Wayne, Florida and Kansas City, everybody was older, experienced teams and not that young guys can't contribute, but older guys have been through the battles a little bit. Those are the kind of guys that we feel like were going to be ready for the challenges that come.”

The player with the most experience in the ECHL on this roster is defenseman Connor Moore. A veteran of 333 games in the ECHL all with South Carolina, he is one of just seven returning players from last year’s roster. He has also seen a lot of change over his first six seasons in the organization.

“There’s a lot of changes every year with guys coming in and out,” said Moore. “But this year with the new coaching staff, it just kind of takes it to another level. They've got guys that they want to bring in, guys that they want to keep, but I love the way that Jesse and Cory are handling it already. The group of guys they've already brought in are guys that the Stingrays want to have. Good character guys, hard workers. We're just excited to get going here.”

One of the faces that Kallechy brought in for the 2026-27 season is one that is familiar to the Lowcountry, Tyler Weiss. Teammates with Moore during the 2024-25 Brabham Cup season, Weiss signed an American Hockey League deal with the Chicago Wolves last season and spent a majority of the campaign with the Greensboro Gargoyles and then Indy Fuel.

After a season away from the Stingrays organization, Weiss remembers what the organization is about and it's what drew him back.

“We have to have everyone buy in,” said Weiss. “I think it's a big thing that we all hold each other to a high standard, and keep pushing. South Carolina's known for winning. We had a great winning season when I was there, last year they had a winning season, I just really wanted to get back to winning. Last year wasn't the best year, winning-wise, for myself and my teams, so I wanted to go back to a team that is going to set you up for success.”

Like Moore, forward Josh Wilkins has been a part of the Stingrays organization for over half a decade, and he notes with his new Head Coach, every day will test the players to be their best.

“I was with [Kallechy] for a couple weeks in Florida when I first started out and he brings intensity,” said Wilkins. “Our first meeting with him was pretty intense. We've had a mix of coaches here and I think it's good to have a lot of intensity. He loves offense, he loves doing things the right way, so it's good to have him here.”

For the 2026-27 South Carolina Stingrays, intensity will be one of the keys. Experience will also help drive them throughout the grind of a 72 game regular season. South Carolina has won the Kelly Cup three times in its franchise history, the last in 2009. The ultimate goal for each organization in the ECHL is to be the last team standing, but that does not happen overnight. The Stingrays have to take it day-by-day.

“Every year is its own animal and there's going to be different challenges that we don't even know what's coming yet,” said Kallechy. “I think for us, we're trying to not get too far ahead of ourselves, so we try to be where our feet are today. Really our outlook is Friday in Jacksonville.”

The Stingrays begin their 2026-27 season on Friday evening against the Jacksonville Icemen. Puck drop is slated for 7 p.m. from the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla.

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The Stingrays return to the North Charleston Coliseum for Opening Night, presented by MUSC Health, on Saturday, October 17th, against the Greenville Swamp Rabbits at 6:05 p.m. The full schedule can be viewed on our website here.

2026-27 Season Ticket plans are on sale now! For more information or to purchase, contact the Stingrays at 843-744-7418 or submit this form.

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