The Wheeling Nailers did the Pittsburgh Penguins one final favor, trading goalie Penguins prospect Gabriel D’Aigle to the Florida Everblades.
On July 16, the Penguins terminated their affiliation with Wheeling, opting for the Hoffman Family of Companies-owned Florida Everblades. Of course, the Hoffmanns were approved by the NHL Board of Governors as the new owners of the Penguins on June 23. During their introductory press conference, chairman of the board David Hoffmann said “100%” the organization would make Florida the ECHL affiliate, ending their 29-year-relationship with Wheeling.
However, that move to Florida didn’t occur until July 16, one week after ECHL teams had to submit qualifying offers to eight players, holding their rights for the next season. Wheeling qualified D’Aigle.
Tuesday evening, Wheeling traded him to Florida, and the curious situation that began when Wheeling extended a qualifying offer to D’Aigle, thus retaining his ECHL rights, came to a close.
Wheeling received depth defenseman Hunter Sansbury in return. Sansbury, 25, played four years at Sacred Heart University, but played only two games for Florida last season.
The Florida Everblades have acquired goaltender Gabriel D’Aigle in a trade with the Wheeling Nailers. Welcome, Gabriel! 🐊💚 pic.twitter.com/cwqvEyXX0t
— Florida Everblades (@FL_Everblades) July 28, 2026
One week ago, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins signed ECHL goalie Cam Johnson to an AHL deal with full expectations of keeping the 32-year-old netminder who has won four of the last five Kelly Cups with Florida. Pittsburgh Hockey Now attempted to reach the Wheeling organization regarding D’Aigle’s rights, but did not receive a response.
D’Aigle, 19, is a promising prospect but raw. The 6-foot-4, 213-pound goalie is a large but athletic netminder who often carried his undertalented Victoriaville Tigres team in the QMJHL. He was the second of three Penguins third-round selections in the 2025 NHL Draft, following Charlie Trethewey and preceding Brady Peddle.
D’Aigle played in three regular-season games after joining the organization when he signed his three-year entry-level contract on March 21. D’Aigle posted a 1-2 record with a .925 save percentage and appeared in one playoff game in relief of Taylor Gauthier.
How Florida chooses to share the net will be a matter of interest. The Penguins have used their ECHL squad for player development, but Florida, which was affiliated with St. Louis, has been run as a veteran team with an average age of 27.9.
Wheeling also owns the rights to forward Tiernan Shoudy, a Michigan State forward whom the Penguins signed to an AHL contract on April 7. Shoudy played in six regular-season games for Wheeling, totaling three points, and in 15 playoff games, scoring one goal with three assists.
Tags: florida everblades gabriel d’aigle Pittsburgh Penguins
Categorized:Penguins Prospects