Minor Distractions: 2023-24 Wheeling Nailers

The Wheeling Nailers have completed the 2023-24 ECHL season and are gearing up to start the Kelly Cup playoffs where they face the Indy Fuel starting Friday April 19. They finished the season 3rd in the Central division, 5th in the Western conference, and 12th in the league with a 38-28-5 record. They outscored their opponents 232-204, which is 11th in the league at 3.27 goals for per game and 6th with a 2.87 goal against per game and were 8th overall having a 53.2 goals for percent. Their power play scored 51 of 249 at a 20.5 PP% which was 11th in the league and led the league only giving up 4 shorthanded goals against. Their penalty kill stopped 195 of 251 at a 77.7 PK% which was just 21st in the ECHL though their 9 shorthanded goals for was 6th in the league.

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Goaltenders

The Nailers dressed ten different goalies this year, six of whom played one or more games in net. Rather than go over each of them, some of which were just an emergency backup goaltender and others who are no longer with the team, we are just going to go over the two netminders who are on the playoff roster and one additional who is eligible to be sent down from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

33 Taylor Gauthier

Gauthier is a Pittsburgh Penguins prospect signed by Ron Hextall as an undrafted free agent in 2022. He recently turned 23 and is 6’2″, 207lbs, and catches right. This is his second year pro and he has spent most of the season in the ECHL as the Wheeling Nailers starter. He went 24-16-2 with a 2.23 GAA and 92.3 Sv% with 4 shutouts finishing the year with the league’s best Sv% and was named a 1st Team All-Star and Goalie of the Year. When called up to WBS he went 1-2-1 with a 3.87 GAA and 88.9 Sv% with 1 shutout. He is vastly improved from his performance as a rookie backup in the ECHL last year. He is in the final year of his contract and if he does re-sign will probably move up to the AHL next year.

35 Jaxon Castor

Castor is a rookie netminder under an ECHL contract with the Nailers. He recently turned 27 and is 6’3″, 201lbs, and catches left. This is his first year pro having graduated from college last year. The Nailers acquired him in trade on November 29 and he has served as the team’s main backup since then. He went 10-4-1 with a 2.71 GAA and 89.9 Sv%. He was called up to WBS and dressed as backup but did not play. It is hard to say whether or not he will be back next year, but it would be nice if he does return.

40 Garret Sparks

Sparks is under an AHL contract with the WBS Pens and is eligible to join the Nailers for the playoffs. He will be 31 this summer and he is 6’3″, 201lbs, and catches left. He was signed as a free agent this summer and due to the fact that he spent all of NHL training camp in Pittsburgh I suspect he was brought in to be a mentor and help coach the young goalies. This is supported by how few games he actually played this year. He went 0-3-1 with a 4.00 GAA and 84.3 Sv% with the Nailers and he was 0-1-0 with a 3.70 GAA and 86.2 Sv% with the Pens. I don’t know if he will be back again next year, whether as a 3rd string again or even moving into hockey ops, but he has done a good job helping develop the young prospect goalies.

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Defensemen

The Nailers have used thirteen different defensemen this year, some of whom are up in the AHL and some are no longer with the team. So we are going to focus on the six who are on the playoff roster plus two more who are eligible to be sent back down from WBS. Since teams are able to dress 19 players a night they often use 7 D in a game, so pairs are a bit fluid.

82 Thimo Nickl

Nickl is a rookie who is property of the Pittsburgh Penguins, his right having been acquired by Hextall last spring, but he was never signed and is playing on an AHL deal with WBS. He is a 22 year old, 6’3″, 196lbs right-handed D. This is his first year pro in North America, having previously played in the HockeyAllsvenskan in Sweden, and he spent the season in Wheeling. He has 2 goals, 19 assists, and a team high +25 in 66 games played. 1 of his assists was scored on the PP and 1 assist was scored shorthanded. He will not be back next year as he already signed a multi-year deal with his hometown team Klagenfurter Athletiksport Club of the ICE Hockey League in Austria.

5 David Drake

Drake is a veteran signed to an ECHL deal with the Wheeling Nailers who is on his 3rd year with the team. He turned 29 this year and is a 6’6″, 194lbs left-handed D. For the past month he has pretty consistently been paired with Nickl. He has 2 goals, 18 assists, and a +18 in 65 games played. 2 of his assists were scored shorthanded. He has been fairly consistent in his production these past two seasons. I don’t know whether or not he will be back next year, but he seems to like it here and he remains a useful contributor on the team.

32 Justin Lee

Lee is a rookie signed to an AHL contract with the WBS Pens having finished up school last spring. He recently turned 24 and is a 6’0″, 194lbs left-handed D. He started the season in WBS but was regularly scratched on their deep blueline so he got sent down to Wheeling. He has 9 goals, 24 assists, and a +2 in 63 games played. 3 of his goals and 11 of his assists were scored on the power play. I hope he comes back again next year, I liked him ever since his performance in the Prospects Challenge rookie tournament this summer.

7 Davis Bunz

Bunz is an alternate captain signed to an ECHL deal with the Nailers. He is 25 years old and is a 6’1″, 181lbs right-handed D. He is in his 2nd year pro, both in Wheeling, and for the past month has mostly been paired with Lee. He has 10 goals, 21 assists, and a +20 in 58 games played. 4 of his assists were scored on the power play while 1 of his assists was scored shorthanded. He has outpaced his rookie performance from last season. I know at some point he will move on seeking a bump to the AHL, but I like him and hope he can come back again next season.

28 Louie Roehl

Roehl is an alternate captain signed to an ECHL deal with Wheeling. He just turned 26 and is a 5’11”, 185lbs right-handed D. He is in his 2nd year pro, both with the Nailers, and for most of the past month he dressed as a 7th D. He has 1 goal, 8 assists, and a -2 in 54 games played. 1 of his assists was scored shorthanded. He has fallen steeply from his impressive rookie performance last year. He was a lot better last season so I would like to see him get a chance to prove he can get back to that level, so I hope to see him back again next year, but if anybody has to go he unfortunately may have drawn the short straw.

2 Phip Waugh

Waugh is a rookie who signed a 2-year AHL deal with WBS last month after leaving school. He turned 24 this year and is a 6’4″, 220lbs left-handed D. He burned the 1st year of his contract but will still be a rookie when he returns in the fall. He wasn’t in the lineup long but they put him into the thick of things right away and with only six D on the roster he will be seeing a lot of action in the playoffs unless WBS sends back some other players. He has 2 assists and a -1 in 12 games played. He is still under contract next season and will probably be back in Wheeling but will get an opportunity to fight for a spot in the AHL.

78 Isaac Belliveau

Belliveau is a rookie who was selected by Hextall in the 5th round of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, although this was the first year he took over so it was using scouting staff left over from Jim Rutherford, but it was Hextall who signed him to an entry level contract as one of his final moves as General Manager before he got fired. He is only 21 and is a 6’2″, 185lbs left-handed D. He spent the majority of the season in the ECHL, mostly paired with Waugh this past month, and although he is currently up in WBS he remains eligible to return for the playoffs. He had a team high 14 goals and 24 assists and was a +13 in 70 games played. 4 of his goals and 9 of his assists were scored on the power play. He played 2 games in WBS going scoreless with a -1. He is still under contract for another two years, but he may be ready to move up to the AHL next season.

18 Owen Headrick

Headrick is under contract with the AHL WBS Pens having been acquired in trade on November 27. He had quite an interesting career path starting out in the NOJHL, a Canadian Junior A league, before heading to the NCAA but dropped out in his sophomore season to go to major juniors in the OHL. When he finished juniors the first pro team he played for way back in the spring of 2018 was the Wheeling Nailers, but he didn’t come back and instead used his CHL scholarship to head off to a Canadian university and spent four years in the USports league. He was a rookie last year, signed with a different team of course, and was named the ECHL Defenseman of the Year, and now is back where it all began with the Nailers. He is already 26 years old and is a 6’0″, 194lbs right-handed D. He spent more time in the AHL than the ECHL this year, and hasn’t played since February when he was paired with Lee. He had 1 goal, 4 assists, and +3 in 6 ECHL games. Up in the AHL he had 1 goal, 3 assists, and an even +0 in 14 games played. 1 of his assists with WBS was scored on the power play. He is rumoured to be heading to play in Germany next year, although nothing official has been announced.

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Forwards

The Nailers have had a whopping 28 forwards who played one or more games in Wheeling this year. So once again we are not going to cover them all, many of whom are no longer with the team. Instead we are only going to look at the eleven forwards who are on the playoff roster plus four more who are eligible to be returned from WBS. Since teams only dress 19 players per game it usually means using 10 forwards split into 3 lines plus an extra. That means when I say top 6 I mean 1st or 2nd line and when I say bottom 6 I mean 2nd or 3rd line, they don’t have as much leeway as NHL team so its not necessarily split into even scoring and defensive lines.

36 Matt Koopman

Koopman is a rookie signed to an ECHL deal with Wheeling. He will be 26 in two weeks and is a 5’10”, 170lbs left-handed forward. He played a few games last spring when he was finished with school and came back this year, over the last few games has been playing in the top 6 as a RW but also spent a good bit of time as a LW. He has 16 goals, 18 assists, and a +4 in 71 games played. 1 of his goals and 1 of his assists were scored on the PP while 3 goals and 3 assists were scored shorthanded. He will be another guy we are hoping will come back again next year after a strong start to his career.

10 David Jankowski

Jankowski is a rookie signed to an ECHL deal with the Nailers. He will be 27 in a month and is a 6’1″, 174lbs right-handed forward. He joined the Nailers last spring at the conclusion of his college career and came back again this year and over the past few games was mostly deployed as a bottom 6 RW but occasionally played LW or was the extra forward. He has 11 goals and is tied for the lead with 26 assists as well as a +9 in 69 games played. 5 of his goals and 8 of his assists were scored on the PP. I would also like to see him back again next season as he had a fairly solid rookie year and I would like to see if he can build off of that.

9 Tanner Laderoute

Laderoute is a rookie signed to an ECHL contract with Wheeling. He will be 27 this summer and is a 6’0″, 190lbs right-handed forward. He joined the Nailers last spring when he finished school and joined Wheeling full time this year and spent a lot of time as a top 6 RW. He has 24 goals and a team high 26 assists for the most points on the team as well as a +6 in 63 games played. 5 of his goals and 7 of his assists were scored on the power play while 1 assist was scored shorthanded. He also spent 3 games on a PTO up in WBS where he was scoreless with a -1. Another successful start that I would like to see him come back to show what he can do again next year.

51 Jordan Martel

Martel is signed to an ECHL deal and was acquire on December 12. He recently turned 26 and is a 6’1″, 185lbs right-handed forward. He is a 2nd year pro who has been deployed as the top LW this past month. He has a team high 29 goals as well as 18 assists and a +11 in 45 games played. 7 of his goals and 9 of his assists were scored shorthanded. So far his track record is that he starts the season with the team he finished the year before, gets off to a slow start and gets traded, then goes off on a tear scoring at a point per game pace, so I would like to see him back again and hope he can buck the trend and stick around with one team.

11 Peter Laviolette III

Laviolette is a hometown hero, born in Wheeling as son of a former Nailers head coach, who is signed to an ECHL contract. He is a 26 year old 6’4″, 201lbs left-handed forward. He is a 2nd year pro, both with the Nailers, and he was usually dressed as the extra forward. He has 4 goals, 7 assists, and a -3 in 45 games played. One can assume he will be back in Wheeling as long as he wants since he is a local boy and fills a role at the bottom of the lineup that makes it unlikely he will jump ship for greener pastures.

14 Jordan Frasca

Frasca is a Pittsburgh Penguins prospect signed by Hextall as an undrafted free agent in the spring of 2022 when his Juniors career finished. He is going to be 23 this summer and is a 6’2″, 183lbs left-handed forward. He is a 2nd year pro who spent most of his time down in the ECHL and was usually dressed as a top 6 center. He has 11 goals, 22 assists, and a +6 in 40 games played. 3 of his goals and 4 of his assists were scored on the power play while 2 goals were scored shorthanded. He spent 3 games up in WBS where he was scoreless with a -2. He still has a year left on his ELC, so he will be back next season, although he hopes to be moving up to the AHL.

70 Dillon Hamaliuk

Hamaliuk is a Pittsburgh Penguins prospect who was acquired this summer as part of the Erik Karlsson trade. He is a 23 year old 6’4″, 201lbs left-handed forward. He is a 3rd year pro, although he missed most of last season due to injury, and he spent most of this year in the ECHL and ended the season as a top 6 LW and was an ECHL All-Star. He has 15 goals, 24 assists, and a team high +20 in 36 games played. 4 of his goals and 3 of his assists were scored on the PP. He spent 8 games up in WBS where he had 1 assist and was a -2. His contract is up and I’m not sure that he will be back as he wants to get back into the AHL where he started his career as a rookie two years ago.

20 Justin Addamo

Addamo is the team captain although he is under an AHL deal with WBS. He will be turning 26 in a month and is a 6’6″, 249lbs left-handed forward. He is a 2nd year pro who spent most of last season in Wheeling and earned himself a contract with the Pens and this year has finished the season as the top line center. He has 13 goals, 21 assists, and a +13 in 35 games played. 4 of his goals and 8 of his assists were scored on the power play. He spent part of the year in the AHL where he had 2 goals, 2 assists, and a -6 in 21 games with WBS. We can only hope he comes back again next year as he is a valuable part of the roster.

25 Jared Westcott

Westcott is a rookie who joined the Nailers on an ECHL contract this spring at the conclusion of his college career. He will be 25 this summer and is a 6’1″, 201lbs left-handed forward. He was a 1st Team All-Star in the CCHA who has not been with the team long but has been dressing as a bottom 6 LW. He has 4 goals, 2 assists, and an even +0 in 6 games played. 2 of his goals and 2 of his assists were scored on the power play. You never know with young undrafted college kids whether they will stick around or not, there are already several just from this year who were not included in the playoff roster, but what we have seen of him makes me hope he comes back for a full season in the fall.

26 Dustin Manz

Manz is a rookie who was signed to an ECHL deal with Wheeling this spring when he finished school. He is a 24 year old 5’10”, 190lbs right-handed forward. He was not here for that long and when he did play was mostly a bottom 6 center although did have some time as RW as well. He has 2 goals and a -2 in 6 games played. 1 of his goals was scored on the PP. He may be back next year, he is a rookie and we will need to see what he can do in a full season, but we have no guarantees that he will stick with the Nailers.

8 Cal Kiefiuk

Kiefiuk is a rookie on an ECHL contract who joined the Nailers this spring after graduating from college. He recently turned 24 and is a 5’10”, 185lbs left-handed forward. He only played a couple games and when he did he was dressed as an extra forward. He was scoreless with a -1 in 3 games played. I don’t know if he will be back or if he will look better with a full season under his belt, but for now he probably isn’t a priority.

13 Matthew Quercia

Quercia is a rookie signed to an ECHL deal with the Nailers. He recently turned 25 and is a 6’3″, 203lbs left-handed forward. He is technically a 2nd year pro, having first come to Wheeling in the spring of 2022 after finishing college, but he missed the entire season last year so is a rookie this season. He is currently on a PTO up in WBS but when he was in the ECHL he was a center who played up and down the lineup. He had 11 goals, 22 assists, and a +13 in 64 games played. 1 of his goals and 5 of his assists were scored on the power play while 3 goals and 1 assist were scored shorthanded. He also leads the team in penalty minutes, not that it is necessarily a good thing to do so. He has spent 5 games in WBS where he was scoreless with a +1. It would be nice to have him back, there has been so little consistency in the roster in recent years, but players seldom stay for long, preferring to make a break in the AHL or give up and head overseas.

41 Evan Vierling

Vierling is a rookie who signed an AHL deal with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins last spring. He will be 22 this summer and is a 6’0″, 168lbs left-handed forward. He spent part of the season up in the AHL and when he was in Wheeling usually played center up and down the lineup but has played a few games at LW. He had 7 goals, 18 assists, and a -2 in 34 games played. 1 of his goals and 4 of his assists were scored on the power play. He also played 7 games in WBS where he scored 2 goals and 5 assists with a +5. 1 of his assists was scored on the PP. Since he is scoring at a point per game pace up in the AHL his time in Wheeling may be over, but I hope he stays in the Pens system.

72 Lukas Svejkovsky

Svejkovsky is a Pittsburgh Penguins prospect drafted in the 4th round of the 2020 NHL draft and signed to an ELC by Hextall in the spring of 2022. He is a 22 year old 5’11”, 185lbs right-handed forward. He is a second year pro having spent all of last year in WBS he got bumped down to Wheeling for half this season and when he was in the lineup he was a top line RW. He had 16 goals, 21 assists, and a +8 in 30 games played. 5 of his goals and 9 of his assists were scored on the power play. During his time in the AHL he had 2 goals, 2 assists, and a +4 in 19 games played. 1 of his goals was scored on the power play. He still has a year left on his contract, but he may be done with the Nailers as he seems to have moved back up for good.

80 Raivis Ansons

Ansons is a Pittsburgh Penguins prospect drafted in the 5th round of the 2020 NHL draft and signed to an ELC by Hextall in the spring of 2022. He turned 22 this year and is a 6’1″, 192lbs left-handed forward. He is a 2nd year pro who got his start in WBS last year but because of the depth they had he began this season with the Nailers and the last time he was down he played center up and down the lineup. He had 2 goals, 1 assist, and a -2 in 8 games played. 1 of his goals and 1 of his assists were scored on the PP. Up in the AHL he had 2 goals, 5 assists, and a +1 in 32 games with WBS. 1 of his assists was scored shorthanded. He does still have a year left on his ELC but he may be sticking in the AHL now, so don’t expect to see him back in Wheeling next year.