In a disappointing 2022-23 season, the Wheeling Nailers finished 24th out of 28 teams in the ECHL and failed to qualify for the postseason.
Several players signed to NHL contracts with the Pittsburgh Penguins appeared in games with Wheeling in 2022-23, including forward Jordan Frasca, blueliners Peter DiLiberatore, Josh Maniscalco and Colin Swoyer, and goaltender Taylor Gauthier.
Though players under NHL contract playing in the ECHL rarely make the NHL, recent players appearing with the Nailers and later with the Penguins include Mark Letestu (2007-08), Tom Kuhnhackl (2012-13) and Josh Archibald (2014-15), though all three players only played short stints in Wheeling for conditioning assignments or to get some extra minutes with playing time at a premium in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Frasca dealt with injury at the start of the season and joined the Nailers once healthy to get up to speed at the professional level. Undrafted out of the OHL and signed last offseason, Frasca took a while to get going, but eventually finished with five goals and 12 points in 36 games–not the ideal start to a professional career, but hopefully something to build on for the future. Frasca showed a scoring ability at the junior level, recording 87 points in 61 games last season with the Kingston Frontenacs.
Acquired as part of the Teddy Blueger trade with the Vegas Golden Knights, DiLiberatore joined the Nailers at the end of the season and recorded a single assist in five games.
Going the other direction, Maniscalco started the season with the Nailers and after putting up 28 points in 31 games from the blueline, joined the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and stayed in the AHL.
With a crowded blueline in Pittsburgh and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at the beginning of the season, Swoyer joined the Nailers for six games and recorded a single assist. The undrafted free agent signed out of Michigan Tech in the offseason spent the rest of 2022-23 with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins after the short stay in West Virginia.
Gauthier posted okay numbers with the Nailers, going 8-7-1 with a .896 save percentage and 3.09 goals against average in 16 appearances, but stuck with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton after joining the team to replace the injured Filip Lindberg.
Several players signed to AHL contracts with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins also played for the Nailers at times. Sean Josling, undrafted and out of the OHL and signed with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton after two seasons with Wheeling, scored 12 goals and recorded 19 points in 32 games with the Nailers. Brooklyn Kalmikov, undrafted and signed out of the QMJHL, finished second on the team with 23 goals and 52 points in 66 games. Chris Ortiz, undrafted out of the QMJHL for the 2021-22 season, ended up leading blueliners on the team with 32 points in 44 games in 2022-23. Finally, goaltender Tommy Nappier went 5-14-1 in 21 appearances with a .874 save percentage and 3.70 goals against average.
Cedric Desreuisseaux led the team with 30 goals and 59 points in 72 games. The undrafted forward out of the QMJHL recorded 201 points in 229 QMJHL games over five seasons–including 78 in 40 in a final year of eligibility, and recorded 30 points in 50 ECHL games between Wheeling and the Trois-Rivières Lions last season.
Justin Addamo found the back of the net with some consistency, scoring 21 goals in 33 games and earning a contract with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins next season. Addamo completed four years in the NCAA last season, recording 68 points in 138 games between Robert Morris University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Goaltending proved to be a weak point yet again for the Nailers. Brad Barone, a minor league journeyman, ended up starting the most games for the Nailers, going 9-10-2 in 24 appearances with .894 save percentage and 3.22 goals against average. A handful of other goaltenders started games outside of Barone, Nappier and Gauthier, though none of note.