Photo Courtesy of the Wheeling Nailers The Wheeling Nailers [https://thehockeynews.com/echl/latest-news/nailers-head-coach-takes-assistant-coaching-position-in-the-ahl]signed their fourth player to the 2025-26 roster on Tuesday. The club announced it has signed forward Tyler Paquette to an ECHL [https://thehockeynews.com/echl/]contract. The 24-year-old Paquette is the first new player to sign with Wheeling this summer, as he looks forward to beginning his professional career. The 6-foot-3, 201-pound right-shot forward can play center and right wing. He spent five years playing NCAA hockey [https://thehockeynews.com/ncaa/]at Penn State University. Over 143 career games with the Nittany Lions, Paquette tallied 27 goals, 21 assists, and 48 points. His two best offensive seasons came consecutively in 2021-22 and 2022-23, when he finished with 15 points in each. The 2021-22 campaign saw his highest goal output of 11, which ranked fourth on the team. The Collegeville, Pennsylvania native got to be part of two runs to the NCAA National Tournament while in State College. In 2023, Paquette scored Penn State's first goal of the tournament in an 8-0 triumph over Michigan Tech. Then, in 2025, he assisted on the opening goal of the Nittany Lions' 3-2 overtime win over UConn, which sent Penn State to the Frozen Four for the first time in school history. Another memorable moment for Paquette came on Jan. 3 of this past season, when he scored against Notre Dame at Wrigley Field. In the classroom, Paquette was a four-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree and a three-time Big Ten Distinguished Scholar, as he majored in Finance. Paquette and the Wheeling Nailers will begin the 2025-26 season in Cincinnati against the Cyclones [https://thehockeynews.com/echl/latest-news/cincinnati-names-former-mavericks-assistant-as-new-head-coach]on Saturday, Oct. 18. The first home game is Saturday, Nov. 1 against the Norfolk Admirals [https://thehockeynews.com/echl/game-day/admirals-eliminate-wheeling-advance-to-north-division-finals], who eliminated the Nailers in the North Division Semifinals last season.
