WHEELING – The Wheeling Nailers, proud ECHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins, are excited to announce their fourth player signing of the 2025 offseason. Wheeling has signed forward Tyler Paquette to an ECHL contract.

Paquette, 24, is the first new player to sign with Wheeling this summer, as he looks forward to beginning his professional career, following five years at Penn State University. He appeared in 143 career games with the Nittany Lions, and 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, Pa. 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 January 3 of this past season, when he scored against Notre Dame at Wrigley Field. In the classroom, he 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 on Saturday, Oct. 18. The first home game is Saturday, Nov. 1 against the Norfolk Admirals.