The NHL has two dev leagues, the higher being the AHL and the lesser being the ECHL. The AHL is seen as the second or third best league in the world, depending on how highly the person values the Russian league, but it's still a considerable step down from the NHL. Every other league is a draft year team, such as the CHL major juniors or the NCAA / college system, i.e. teams you play on before moving up to the NHL / AHL / ECHL.