How many AHL teams are even independently owned? By my last count, there was 11:
Charlotte
Chicago
Cleveland
Colorado
Grand Rapids
Hershey
Lehigh Valley
Milwaukee
Providence
Springfield
Syracuse
Some of these are pretty obvious no's.
Don Levin would rather die than sell Chicago.
Cleveland, Colorado, Grand Rapids, Hershey, Lehigh Valley, and Providence all have such a close business and geographical relationship with their affiliate to conclude they're not going anywhere.
Springfield has somehow become St. Louis's ideal match and has cheap, fast, and frequent direct flight to St. Louis.
That only leaves Syracuse, Milwaukee, and Charlotte. And out of them, Syracuse and Milwaukee both have pretty solid relationships.
Given Charlotte's loss of Carolina's affiliate and the possible ownership issues they face that resulted in Carolina dropping them, they're my top bet.