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The NHL’s St. Louis Blues have extended their affiliation with the American Hockey League’s Springfield Thunderbirds.

Springfield will continue to be part of the Blues’s system through the 2030-31 season, with the extension finalized just as the previous deal between the teams was coming to an end.

City, team and league officials gathered at the MassMutual Center for the announcement Friday, including Thunderbirds President Nathan Costa, who spoke to what the commitment means for the team and more.

“For the next seven years, Springfield will continue to be the place where young talent comes to learn, grow and make their mark,” Costa said. “It means that our fans can continue to watch future NHL stars develop in their own backyard, and it means the bond between our organizations will only get stronger.”

When the AHL franchise first arrived in Springfield in 2016, the team initially had an affiliation with the Florida Panthers – a holdover after a local ownership group purchased and moved the then-Portland Pirates out of Maine to Western Mass.

Four years later, the deal was up and the St. Louis Blues inked the initial five-year deal that was set to end after the upcoming season.

Recounting the scramble to bring an AHL team back to Springfield in 2016 within months of the previous franchise moving to Arizona, Thunderbirds Managing Owner Paul Picknelly touted that in the years since, average attendance has tripled.

He says with an average of 6,000 fans per game, the impact on the team and the city has only grown.

“These fans patronize businesses all around downtown – the vibrancy of Main Street adds to the excitement of the Thunderbirds game,” he said. “Last year, around this time, we had a press conference announcing that the Thunderbirds had a $126 million economic impact on Springfield and the region. We believe that the end of this season, that economic impact will exceed $200 million.”

Also announcing a commitment to Springfield this week was the league itself.

The AHL has long had its headquarters in the City of Homes, dating back 58 years, its President and CEO Scott Howson said Friday.

He also mentioned a potential relocation came up when he was put in charge four years ago, with the league office possibly heading to a “more central market.”

Instead, he says, the AHL HQ will be sticking around.

“I informed the American Hockey League’s Board of Governors last week that the league office will continue to be located here in Springfield for the foreseeable future,” Howson said. “The AHL and Springfield are synonymous … we belong here and we’re delighted to call Springfield home.”

Both announcements came a week after the team and MGM Springfield said they entered a new, five-year deal in which the casino would remain the team’s presenting sponsor.

The Thunderbirds start regular season play Oct. 12 when they host the Laval Rocket.