Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins have a NEW ECHL affiliate, breaking with the Nailers

Episode Date: July 17, 2026

The Penguins made it official this week - the Wheeling Nailers are no longer the team's ECHL affiliate, and they now join up with the Florida Everblades. In a solo episode this Friday, Patrick begins the show by addressing and discussing the Penguins and the Hoffmann Family's decision to end their ECHL affiliation with the Wheeling Nailers and begin their relationship with the Florida Everblades. Patrick goes over why this happened, what it means for the future, and reflects on his time with the Nailers. (0:00) Then, on the same day as the affiliation announcement, the 2026-27 regular-season schedule was released in full. Patrick gives some thoughts on key dates, key matchups, and more. (12:10) Finally, it's another Fan Take Friday, and despite it being July, it's an all-hockey edition of FTF. Patrick takes questions on the surplus of forwards, why one young player may be a better fit than Jason Robertson, and so much more! (22:03)  Everydayer ClubIf you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. From the opening whistle to the final kick, Let There Be Goals on FanDuel. Visit https://FANDUEL.COM to get started now. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It has been made official after nearly 30 years of an affiliation between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the ECHL's Wheeling Nailers, the two clubs will be going there separate ways this upcoming season, and the Florida Everblades officially become the Penguins' new ECHL affiliate. We get into that and more today on the Locked-on Penguins podcast. You're Locked-on Penguins, your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh. Penguins part of the locked on podcast network your team every day welcome in to the friday edition of the locked on penguins podcast i am your host patrick damp flying solo today as my good pal hunter hodies is on his bachelor party weekend trip you can find me on most social media platforms at synonym

for wet and you can follow the show on Twitter at LO underscore penguins and on TikTok at Locked on penguins. Before we jump in today, today's episode is brought to you by Fandul. The biggest stage in world soccer is here. Let there be goals on Fandul. Visit fandul.com to get started now more on our friends at Fandul later on. On today's show, we're going to go over some of the highlights of the Penguins, 2026, 2027 regular season schedule, answer some questions and react to some hot takes

in another fan take Friday. But first, the big story of the week this week so far is the news of the Penguins and the ECHL affiliation agreement. The Penguins made it official yesterday in two separate announcements. First, they announced that they are no longer in an affiliation agreement with the Wheeling Nailers in the ECHL.

And then about two hours later, they made it official that the Florida Everblades will be the Penguin's new ECHL affiliate. In their statement saying that they were no longer affiliated with the Nailers, Kyle Dubas spoke highly. of the nailers, of the history, and everything else that these two clubs have done together over the past nearly 30 years. Then, as I said, just a couple of hours later, it was officially announced by the Penguins and the Hoffman family of companies that the Penguins and the Everblades are now officially affiliates this upcoming season. So I know there is a lot of emotion behind this. I know there are a lot of hot takes, there's disappointment, there is anger, there's pretty much every emotion you can think of under the sun when it comes to this news.

But this is where I want to begin on the discussion. I totally get and I totally understand the frustration and the disappointment. I worked for the Wheeling-Nailers for a few seasons, I lived in Wheeling. I was a member of the community in West Virginia. The nailers are a pillar of the community. They have maintained through multiple ownerships. They were originally the Wheeling Thunderbirds and the lore in history that they have

with that community, with that city is very, very close to unmatched in the ECHL. They are a historic organization. No two ways about that. So totally understand why people are upset, totally understand why people are being emotional when it comes to this. And I don't say that with any negative connotation. This is an emotional moment for a lot of people. However, I have said this on our show before.

this is the unfortunate reality of sports, sports business, the NHL, you name it. The Hoffman family of companies in the Hoffman family themselves have owned the Everblades since 2019. A lot has happened in the world since 2019. I don't need to be the one to tell you that. and the penguins in 2019, if you recall, were still very much owned by the Lemieux Group. We weren't talking about Fenway Sports Group yet. We didn't even know that there was interest from Fenway Sports Group in purchasing the penguins. And this is obviously well before the Hoffman family had any interest in purchasing the penguins as far as we know. Maybe this went back longer than we know.

but for the public and on the record timeline, this is well before the Hoffman family was interested in taking over the penguins. So this is one of their babies. They have done a really, really good job in making the Florida Everblades a premier destination in the ECHL. They have done really well with player development. They have done really well with building a culture down there. It is now one of the best organizations.

Well, I should say teams, not organizations, because now they join the Penguins organization, but as a club, they have grown and done a really, really good job in building something down there in Estero, Florida. So I get the frustration. I understand it. But the Everblades, I can promise you, are very well run. And it is not going to be as big and negative as people think it is.

here's the other thing. The ECHL is no longer a second thought league. I have beat this drum quite a bit. In the past 15 or so years, the NHL has really come to understand and model themselves over what I often refer to as an MLB development model. They don't have ECHL teams anymore just to have them by requirement. They use them to develop projects. They use them to develop players that they hope in four, five or more years will become NHL contributors. The nailers were no exception to that. The Everblades are no exception to that. It's not a place anymore for guys just hanging on to a dream or guys who were just fighters and want to do a bunch of fighting in hockey before they hang them up and get on with their lives work.

It is still very much a place where people get developed. Yes, it will suck not having all three clubs within driving distance, but I will remind you that there are plenty of teams right now throughout the league, whether it's the HL, the NHL, or the ECHL that are not particularly close to one of their affiliates. for example, if we're going to keep it with the north and the south, the Tampa Bay Lightning, who have been one of the premier clubs in the league for the last decade, their AHL affiliate is in Syracuse, New York, the Syracuse Crunch, and that has a lot more of an effect on them than, say, having the baby penguins in Wilkeshire

in northeastern Pennsylvania. Getting players from Syracuse to New York all the way to Tampa Bay, Florida, takes a while. This will be a bit of a issue for the ECHL to the AHL. It will be a bit of a problem getting players from Estero, Florida to Wilkesbury, Scranton, Pennsylvania. But at the end of the day, it does seem like at least early on, and again, I want to stress early on, we will see what happens in a few years. It does not feel like the Hoffman family is going to be cheap. So it does feel like they will give these guys the Rehers.

resources to get to Wilkes Bear if they need to get them there. So at the very least, we have that going on. So overall, I know that this stinks because there are a lot of Penguins fans in Wheeling, West Virginia. There is a deep, deep history between the Wheeling Nailers, the Pittsburgh penguins, the city of Pittsburgh, the city of Wheeling. I've been in both of them for a long time. I understand the connection, and I know this stinks. It really does suck, but it's the unfortunate reality that we are in. The Hoffman family probably wasn't and probably isn't going to relinquish control of the Florida Everblades. So this was pretty much just a natural endpoint for where the Penguin's organization is.

Now, as for the Nailers, they do currently, as I record this, Friday, July 17th, don't have an affiliate yet, but I can see them becoming the affiliate for the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Blue Jackets do not have an affiliate right now in the ECHL. Wheeling to Columbus is a pretty easy, pretty quick drive, and it just feels like the natural fit with both needing affiliations and with how good the Wheeling Nailers have been over the past, I can't even say past 10 years you can say for pretty much their entire existence have done a really good job at developing players to go to the next level and even go to the NHL. That would be a really good asset for Columbus. So to finish up this segment, I just want to say to my friends, my former colleagues and everybody in Naylor Nation, I know this is a tough time.

I know this stinks. I know this hurts. But I also know how resilient that club is, how resilient that city is, and that the Wheeling Nailers will always in forever be a part of my heart, a part of that town, and they will continue on being one of the best clubs in the ECHL. But that is going to do it for this opening segment. when we come back, the Penguins 2026, 2027 schedule is here. We're going to go over some highlights, talk about the schedule,

and everything else in between when we come back right after this. But first, this episode is sponsored by Fandul. On the biggest stage in the world, Fandul is changing the game, because sometimes your player gets subbed off and your bet goes with them. Not anymore with just one match remaining in the, World Cup fan duel super sub. If your player is subbed out,

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Let there be goals this summer on Fandul. Visit fandul.com slash Locked on. That's Fandul.com slash L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N to get started right now. Welcome back to the Friday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. Patrick Damp running solo today as my pal-Hunter Hodies is out there enjoying the beach for his bachelor party weekend celebration. Yes, I was not invited, but I didn't expect to be. but we'll save that for offline with me and Hunter. But just a note with all of the news from this week with the schedule release in the

ECHL affiliation news, we are going to put our top 10 prospect series on hold until next week when Hunter returns. That way him and I can have our usual discussions and debates over these players. So make sure you're subscribed. make sure you're following us on social media. That way you can know when we continue our prospect talk here on the Locked-on Penguins podcast. As for what I said earlier, the NHL schedule was released in full on Thursday, and it is going to be a pretty busy year for our Pittsburgh Penguins.

First, let's go over the big details. For the seemingly millionth time, a reminder. This upcoming season will be an 84 game schedule. It's the first time since the early 90s that the NHL is shifting back to an 84 game schedule. So we will get two more games in the regular season for each club. It breaks down this way for the penguins. They will play each metro team four times, each Atlantic Division team three times and each Western Conference team twice.

As for the Penguins specific schedule, I say it's time for us to start at the end. 18 of the Penguins' final 30 games will be on the road this year. So they will spend a lot of time on the road to end the season. So if they want to get back to the Stanley Cup playoffs like they did last year, they will need to be a pretty good team on the road, which they were last year, going 21, 12, and 8 on the road. I know that when you take out the overtime, that does make them basically 500 on the road. But getting points in 29 of those road games was a pretty huge, huge thing

for them getting back into the post season. Unfortunately, though, for my absent coworker and co-host today, he is going to have to wait for his favorite trip of the year, the Western Canada swing. That is set for February, and that is going to be a particularly brutal stretch for the penguins when they do go to Western Canada. It is a two and a half week trip on the road. It is right out of the All-Star break. It will begin on February 13th in Edmonton.

Then on the 15th, they will head to Seattle to take on the Cracken. On the 16th, it's the Vancouver Canucks. And then on the 19th, they are in Calgary. The Western Canada portion wraps up on the 21st against the Winnipeg Jets. and that trip as a whole comes to a conclusion on the 23rd when they head to Minnesota to take on the wild. So Hunter's favorite stretch of late night hockey won't be coming until after the NHL All-Star break, which reminder, the NHL All-Star weekend this year is back and it will be on Long Island at the home of the Islanders. So we will see what they're doing with that.

I do believe if I remember correctly, and if I am wrong, please correct me in the comments. I do think they are bringing back the USA versus World format this year, but I may be misremembering that. Maybe they haven't announced it at all. If you know, let me know down below in the comments. If you are a fan of Saturday night hockey and a fan of the penguins, you are going to be eaten real, real good this. season 22 of the 28 Saturdays on the NHL calendar this year. The Penguins will be playing. They have eight, like I said, 22 Saturday games this upcoming season. And 18 of those 22 will be evening games.

So they will have a couple of afternoon or early evening games on Saturdays, but plenty of Saturday hockey for the Penguins. Penguins this upcoming season. Now, this to me might be my favorite part of this schedule because it is something that I have talked about previously here on Locked-on Penguins. And it's the fact that the end of the season will pretty much be exclusively Metropolitan Division games. By my count, 13 of their final 15 games.

this upcoming year will be divisional matchups. Yes, half of the NHL makes the Stanley Cup playoffs. So it's difficult to get in, but just about half the league gets into the Stanley Cup playoffs. And with 84 games, we all know that with those amount of games, the silly point system, everything else the NHL does to force parity, it kind of feels like the regular season isn't as important as it should be in the national hockey league. But if you're going to at least pretend like you want the regular season to matter,

having your final 13 of your final 15 games being all divisional games, that does mean you've got to earn your place in the division, especially if we have an ending to the season, which we likely will with the way the NHL sets up their point system, a tight race into the final month. So being able to have a good indivision record to get into the Stanley Cup playoffs will be required, especially in those final 13 to 15 games in the regular season. Let's also go over some other big dates coming up in this Penguin's schedule. We have talked about this on the show, but in case you missed it, the season begins where it ended last year on September 30th at 7.30 p.m. against the Flyers at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Then the home opener

is Saturday, October 3rd against the Montreal Canadiens. The final home game of the season, not the final game of the year, but the last regular season game at PPG paints arena this year. will be an 8 o'clock start on April 3rd, once again against the Philadelphia Flyers. The season, though, does conclude with the Penguins on a four-game road trip. They will go up against the Caps, Rangers, Red Wings, and Devils to end the season. That is their final four-game road trip of the season and their final four games of the year. As for everybody who loves promotions, we don't have a full promotional calendar yet. That should be coming here in the next month, but there were a couple of nuggets in the

schedule release video that we found out will be happening this year. First, there will be the Hall of Fame game on November 14th. We know that the Penguin's physical Hall of Fame has returned to PPG Paints Arena We also know that they announced all of the people who are going to be getting in over the next couple of classes. We don't know specifically who will be getting in this year, but that game will be November 14th. And then if you really want to feel old, in January, there will be a game at home that is a 10-year anniversary and reunion for the 2017 Stanley Cup winning team. So keep an eye out for that because in January, we will have our 10-year anniversary of the 2017 Stanley Cup victory. Finally, I will end on this two of my favorite games on the calendar for the Penguins.

The Thanksgiving Eve game is back this year. They will be taking on the Calgary Flames in that one. If you're someone who likes having a couple of pops and having a fun time before Thanksgiving, the penguins will be at home for you to enjoy it there. And also, speaking of having a couple of pops and having a good time in the city of Pittsburgh, the Washington Capitals, and Alex Ovechkin will be coming to town on the same day as the Pittsburgh, St. Patrick's Day Parade, another very rowdy game. another very rowdy crowd.

So those two are back on the schedule. I am going to hold off, and I imagine Hunter will as well. We're not going to do the same that we did from last year. And oh, this could be the last Crosby OV game. This could be the last Gino OV game because we don't know. We didn't think Gino would be back this year. We didn't know if OV would be back this year. So we're not going to try to play Fortune Teller once again.

but there will be plenty of opportunities throughout the year to see those legends go up against one another. But that is going to do it for this middle segment. When we come back, it is Friday. You know what that means. It's fan take Friday. We got plenty of questions and takes to react to. So we will do that when we come back right after this. Welcome back to the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am Patrick Damp on my own. today as Hunter enjoys his bachelor party weekend. And as we like to do on most Fridays, we turn the show over to you,

the listeners and viewers in Fan Take Friday. This week when I put the call out, it was pretty much all hockey. So we love talking hockey even in July. So let's get into it. From Jonathan Campbell on YouTube, do you think the glut of forwards is simply a form of insurance for injuries.

They struggled last year with losses due to missing some big names. This way they will have more capable forwards available. Or do you think some may be included as sweeteners for a bigger fish in a trade? I think, honestly, I think it's both and. I don't think it's one or the other. I do think they recognize that some points did get left on the table last year due to injuries. due to missing some contributors for small stretches of time. It obviously worked out.

They made the playoffs. Didn't go their way, but they were able to withstand that. But I also do think they recognized, hey, we're going to need some more depth, especially as we wait for some of these players from Wokes Bear to develop. We wait for some of these players to take the next step. We want to make sure we have players that we can plug in.

and have them make the lineup and be able to at least tread water while they wait for players to recover. But I also do think that with such an influx and glut of forwards right now, they are going to have to eventually make a move because they don't have a lot of waivers exempt players. They don't have a lot of players that they can just send to the AHL while they work through whatever they're working through or they have to wait for an injury or an underperformance. So I do think that between now and the end of training camp, we are probably going to see some moves. Some of these forwards are going to get moved somewhere else, whether it's for assets, whether it's for a young player. But considering outside of some of the

big names, there isn't going to be a lot of big moves. These will be moves on the margins. You're going to get late round picks. You're going to get some C tier prospects, if that's, what's available. But I do think it's both and. I do think that they want to make sure they have the depth to withstand injuries and underperformances. But I also do think Kyle Dubus is pretty good at grabbing assets and using them and holding on to them to where when he needs more to use, he has them in the system. So to answer the question in short, I think it's both and. This one comes from one of my favorite names and one of our favorite commenters on YouTube, Ryan Brust, he says, Ben Kindle's ceiling is franchise 1C.

If you compare his rookie season stats to Leo Carlson's, Kindle has more points per 60 played, more game winning goals, more shots on goal, a higher shooting percentage, better in the face off dot, more block shots, more hits. The only thing holding Kindle back is giveaways. That's a scorcher of a hot take. I like Ben Kindle a lot. I think Ben Kindle is going to be a staple for the penguins for the foreseeable future. I see him as someone who one day could be wearing a letter on his jersey, whether that's the sea or he's an alternate captain.

The kid's a true leader. The kid is very mature for his age. And we know how mature his gameplay is after playing nearly a full. season last year. But I am going to have to push back on him being a franchise 1C because Leo Carlson is more of an offensive player. He has more offensive gifts. Ben Kindle is more of a complete player. He is very good in the defensive zone. He's very good in the neutral zone. He has very high hockey IQ. I think his ceiling, if you ask me, is second line center. He is is your second wave of attack.

He's your, it's not a one-to-one. I'm not saying he's of Genni Malkin, but you look at a lot of contending teams. They're to see when you're a contending team, their second line would be a first line on a lesser team. And I do think you look at Ben Kindle's game. He's a very good 200-foot center. It doesn't mean that he can't score.

It doesn't mean he doesn't have office. offensive upside, but I think calling him a franchise 1C is a bit of a stretch, not a big one, but a little bit of a stretch. I will say I do think overall he gets a little underrated by everybody just because he does play a 200 foot game and a 200 foot game is not sexy. It's not scoring 50, 60 goals. It's not putting together incredible highlights that end up all over TikTok and Instagram. but he plays a very solid two-way game with offensive upside.

So I do think 1C franchise center is a stretch, but long-term answer at 2C would be the ceiling for me. Moving right along here from Jeff Rose on Blue Sky, which new player are you most excited to see at training camp and in the preseason? This is, I'm mostly going to look at this one. and say I'm looking forward to seeing a lot of the 2026 draft class because I think the penguins did a really good job of getting some underrated

talent in that draft. I want to see how the Ruck twins do in an NHL training camp. And if they do get preseason games, I want to see how they look, though I'm not sure how long they will make it or if they will get the invite to camp at all. The same thing goes for a player we've talked about quite a bit in Pierce Boone, I think that kid is just a ball of energy with an unreal shot and he could make a little bit of noise.

The one that I'm really curious to see what happens with is Tomash Galvis. Hunter and I have gushed over this kid. And it's a bit of a misnomer to call him a kid because he's in his early 20s. This was his third draft eligible year. And the skating is there. The vision is there. I know he's expected to go back to Chequia. next year, but I could be a player to me who, if he performs pretty well in camp,

I could see the penguins maybe talking him in to staying in North America and coming over early because he has a chip on his shoulder. He wants to show all of the other 31 teams and 32, if we're counting the penguins as well, over the last two drafts and not taking a chance on him that he belongs. So that is a player, Galvis is one that I am over the moon about and really want to see what he could bring to the Pittsburgh Penguins. From a Hall of Fame commenter on our YouTube, our pal G. Tots, he says, hot take, Shane Wright would fit better for the penguins as the future

and current than Jason Robertson. Two things about this. One, the overall thought 100%, 100% agree with. The penguins are going to much sooner rather than later have to get some center succession plans in place because we know Sidney Crosby is not going to play forever. This very well could be of Gennie Malkins last season in the NHL. So with that, you pretty much have Ben Kindle and Blake Lest. and a bunch of guys who, while they look like they have upside, while they look like they

have potential, they're not Sidney Crosby. They are not of Gennie Malkin. Neither is Shane Wright, but Shane Wright is 22. Shane Wright has NHL experience and a lot of room to grow. Does he become a 1C? I don't know. I think it's possible. I do think he is more a product of his environment than anything. else the Seattle Cracken have spun their wheels since they were incepted into the NHL. So there is a very real possibility.

You give him a change of scenery. He becomes what he was in his draft year when everybody thought he was the consensus number one, but fell all the way down to number four. So I do think on that point, he is the much better fit for the plan of where the penguins want to go and what they want to do. and I am very much an advocate of, you know what, go out and get him because he fits the timeline. The other part of this, part two, great talent is great talent. There is never a wrong time to go get it.

I agree in the point that Shane Wright fits the penguin's plans better and fits their timeline better, but it is not often a player like Jason Robertson reportedly becomes available. so if he's available, you should be going after him. But the overall point of right fitting the Penguins timeline better, 100% I am on board with. Finally, we will end with this one from a pal of mine, Mike on Blue Sky, says, having been a fan through some dark times for this team,

what kind of things would you expect to see from the Penguins when this era is done? How do we mentally prepare for going through those times? So I first have to say we as Penguins fans were spoiled because our quote unquote dark years were only about two to three years in the early 2000s. The Penguins, while they weren't always perennial contenders in the late 90s, they were always a team that you could make the case that they might be all right. They might win a round or two. They may not win the Stanley Cup, but they'll be right. in the mix. And then we had a couple of down years after the yager trade. Then we had the lockout. We get Sid. And before that, we already had Flurry. We already had Malkin. In comes stall.

So the talk of dark times, we have not had dark times. The Penguins playoff streak was longer than the Buffalo Sabres playoff drought. So we don't know dark times. But the other thing I would say is, what to expect is the game has changed. It has changed so much in the past 15 to 20 years that the gulf between the good players and the great players and the good players and the quote unquote bad players has shrunk quite a bit. So I don't think it would get to the point where the penguins would be unwatchable. I mean, even teams like Chicago, even teams like Buffalo before they got

really good again. Even teams like Ottawa and some of the other teams out on the West Coast like San Jose and Anaheim. They have talent in the system. They have good players on the team. So I don't think it would ever become an unwatchable product. So it would not be like the 80s or the early 90s when the bad teams were truly, deeply putrid. As for preparing, hey, we live in the era of the internet. You can always go back and watch 20 years of highlights from this golden era. And you can even go all the way back and watch the early 90s cups like I do when I want to see some fun penguins hockey. But that is going to do it for the Friday edition of the lockdown.

on Penguins podcast. Hunter will return next week, as will our top 10 prospect series. And we will obviously cover any news that happens over the weekend and between now and then. But for now, for Hunter Hodes while he's on his bachelor party, I am Patrick Damp. Thank you as always for tuning in. And we will be back with a brand new episode more than likely on Monday.