- Blue Jackets sign a two-year ECHL affiliation with the Wheeling Nailers through 2027-28
- Wheeling spent 28 seasons with Pittsburgh before the Penguins walked away in July
- Read below for the geography and the old rivalry that made this an easy call
The Wheeling Nailers did not have to look far for a new NHL partner.
Columbus Blue Jackets president of hockey operations and general manager Don Waddell announced Thursday that Wheeling will serve as the ECHL affiliate for both the Blue Jackets and the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters starting in 2026-27. It is a two-year agreement that runs through the 2027-28 season.
Wheeling needed the phone to ring. The club spent 28 seasons as Pittsburgh’s ECHL affiliate from 1998 through 2026 before the Penguins moved that partnership to the Florida Everblades on July 16.
Nailers president and governor Brian Komorowski was asked what made Columbus the right landing spot, and he pointed straight at a map.
“Geographically, this makes all of the sense in the world for us. When transactions occur, the travel for the players will be extremely convenient. This also gives us an excellent opportunity to expand our growing fanbase deeper into Ohio, as we look forward to welcoming fans from Columbus and Cleveland to WesBanco Arena.”
He is not exaggerating the drive. Wheeling sits 166 miles from Cleveland and 128 miles from Columbus, which makes the Monsters the closest AHL city to WesBanco Arena and the Blue Jackets the second-closest NHL stop. That 166-mile gap is the sixth-shortest between any AHL and ECHL affiliate pair in hockey.
No ECHL club has been attached to Columbus since 2023, when a second run with the Kalamazoo Wings ended. Wheeling becomes the sixth ECHL affiliate in Blue Jackets history after Dayton, Elmira, Johnstown, Gwinnett, Chicago, Evansville and Kalamazoo.
Assistant general manager Chris Clark, who runs the Blue Jackets’ pro affiliates, framed it as a development play.
“Wheeling has a long tradition of both player development and organizational success, and its proximity to both Cleveland and Columbus will be advantageous on the hockey side, while providing a great opportunity to promote our organization and the game throughout the region.”
There is history between these two cities that predates the Blue Jackets entirely. Columbus housed the ECHL’s Chill from 1991 to 1999, and Wheeling won 27 of 51 regular-season meetings between the clubs before the NHL arrived in town.
Only two men have worn both sweaters. Check out the crossover the Blue Jackets dug up:
Zenon Konopka skated in Wheeling in 2002-03 and in Columbus from 2006-08. Mark Letestu played for the Nailers in 2007-08, then logged two separate stints with the Blue Jackets between 2011 and 2019.
The Nailers are not arriving as a reclamation project either. They went 46-20-3-3 for 98 points last season and took the North Division title, their fourth, and the franchise has reached the Kelly Cup Playoffs in each of the past three years and 18 times overall.
One thing does change beyond the parent club. Wheeling shifts to the ECHL’s Western Conference Central Division in 2026-27 alongside Bloomington, Cincinnati, Fort Wayne, Indy, Kalamazoo and Toledo, so Nate DiCasmirro’s group gets a new schedule to go with the new logo on the depth chart.
