The Hoffmann Family of Companies made a expected merger between its hockey franchises.
The Pittsburgh Penguins announced June 16 that they have named the Florida Everblades as the organization’s ECHL affiliate starting with the upcoming 2026-27 season. In the process, the Penguins ended their 29-year affiliation agreement with the Wheeling Nailers, the longest active partnership between NHL and ECHL franchises. The Everblades had been a St. Louis Blues affiliate the last two seasons.
“The Penguins are excited to partner with the Florida Everblades, who are one of the premier organizations in the ECHL,” said Penguins Assistant General Manager Jason Spezza. “As an organization, our player development system puts a strong emphasis on a three-tiered development model between the NHL, AHL and ECHL, and we feel that Florida’s championship pedigree and winning environment will help our players reach their maximum potential. Under the leadership of Craig Brush and Head Coach Brad Ralph, the Everblades have won four of the last five Kelly Cup championships and our goal to provide Coach Ralph with quality prospects that can continue to help the Everblades bring championship hockey to Southwest Florida.”
The NHL Board of Governors unanimously approved the sale of the Penguins from The Fenway Sports Group to Hoffmann Family of Companies on June 23. The sale cost approximately $1.75 billion.
The Everblades, under the ownership of David Hoffmann since 2019, will serve as the secondary developmental affiliate for the Penguins, joining the organization’s primary developmental affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League (AHL).
The Hoffmann family is well-known in Southwest Florida as patriarch David Hoffmann and wife Jerri have lived in Naples since 2015, and their company owns a large catalog of area real estate, businesses, the Everblades, along with their home Hertz Arena. On July 8, the Hoffmann Family of Companies announced its acquisition of Naples Powder Coating, Collier County’s largest production powder coating operation.
The Blades defeated the Nailers in five games in May to win the ECHL 2026 Eastern Conference Championship on their way to the Kelly Cup Championship, their fourth in five seasons after defeating the Kansas City Mavericks in June.
In a release, the Penguins thanked the Nailers for their long partnership and said the decision was made because of “very unique circumstances.” The Nailers, located just 60 miles from Pittsburgh in West Virginia, had sent 25 players to play for the Penguins over the time of their affiliation and had 71 players to reach the NHL overall.
“The Nailers have run a first-class operation for many years, and any organization would be fortunate to have them as an affiliate,” Penguins General Manager Kyle Dubas said in a statement. “We would like to give (team president) Brian Komorowski, the entire Nailers staff, the great fans of Wheeling and the entire Wheeling community our deepest thanks for all that they have done for the Pittsburgh Penguins. We wish the city of Wheeling, the Nailers and all of their fans continued success as a great ECHL franchise.”
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Penguins add Florida Everblades over Wheeling Nailers as ECHL affiliate
Reporting by Ed Reed, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News / Fort Myers News-Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Ed Reed, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News | USA TODAY Network
