WHEELING, WV- The Wheeling Nailers have announced that they have signed an affiliation agreement with the NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets and the AHL's Cleveland Monsters. This is a two-year agreement, which will begin with the 2026-27 season.

The Blue Jackets are entering their 26th season in the NHL, and are coming off of back-to-back 40-win seasons. The Monsters are entering their 20th season and are coming off of three consecutive trips to the Calder Cup Playoffs. Cleveland reached the North Division Final this past season and went all the way to game seven of the Eastern Conference Final in 2024.

The geographical layout of the affiliation will be a major advantage for the three teams, as Wheeling is located just 166 miles from Cleveland and 128 miles from Columbus. Cleveland is the closest AHL city to Wheeling, while Columbus is the second closest NHL destination to the Friendly City. Additionally, the 166 miles between Cleveland and Wheeling creates the sixth shortest distance between current AHL and ECHL affiliates.

"We are excited to begin our new partnership with the Columbus Blue Jackets and Cleveland Monsters," said Nailers President & Governor Brian Komorowski. "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. We had amazing conversations with Blue Jackets President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Don Waddell and Assistant General Manager Chris Clark, which makes us that much more eager to officially get things started."

Wheeling and Columbus both have rich hockey histories, and at one time, the two cities served as ECHL rivals. Prior to the arrival of the Blue Jackets in 2000, Columbus was the home of the ECHL's Chill from 1991-1999. The Nailers and Thunderbirds faced the Chill for eight seasons, and Wheeling came out on top in 27 of 51 regular season meetings. The Thunderbirds also swept Columbus in three games during the first round of the 1996 Riley Cup Playoffs.

The Nailers will be the seventh ECHL affiliate for the Blue Jackets and the first since 2023, when Columbus concluded its second partnership with the Kalamazoo Wings. During their history, the Blue Jackets have affiliated with Dayton (2000-07), Elmira (2007-08), Johnstown (2008-09), Gwinnett (2009-10), Chicago (2011-12), Evansville (2012-14), and Kalamazoo (2014-16 & 2021-23) in the ECHL. Columbus and Cleveland have been together as affiliates since 2015, and the Monsters won the Calder Cup in their first season with the Blue Jackets.

"We are excited to partner with the Wheeling Nailers as our new ECHL affiliate," said Blue Jackets Assistant General Manager Chris Clark, who oversees hockey operations for the organization’s professional affiliates. “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."

“We look forward to working with Head Coach Nate DiCasmirro, his staff and the entire Nailers organization while helping the young players in our system take the next step in their development.”

Columbus will be the fifth NHL affiliate for Wheeling, who had previously worked with Edmonton (1992-1997), Montreal (1992-1997 & 2010-2015), Philadelphia (2007-2009), and Pittsburgh (1998-2026).