The Nailers gave head coach Derek Army a big vote of confidence this season when they signed him to a three-year contract extension through the 2025-26 season.
This past season was Army's second full season leading the Nailers and third overall, having been promoted from the assistant coach position in April of the 2020-21 season. Since being promoted to head coach, Army has amassed 72 regular-season wins, already ranking sixth in franchise history. In his two full seasons as head coach he has seen 33 players get promoted to various AHL teams, including 18 who started in Wheeling on ECHL-level contracts.
Army played 159 games over parts of five seasons in Wheeling as a player from 2013-18. Next season will mark his ninth year with the Nailers in any capacity, more time than any other coach or player has spent in Wheeling.
Danny Shirey and I both spoke with Army to talk about his contract extension, his time in Wheeling, his coaching philosophy and some notable Nailers to keep an eye on. Here's the transcript of our conversation.
Haase: One of the reasons we wanted to speak with you this week is you did just sign a contract extension to stay head coach of the Nailers for the next three seasons. Just what is that feeling having that security and that vote of confidence?
Army: It's obviously great to have the security of three years, one being just that I have a family, but also just the fact that the plan that I have down here is shared vision. It's not just a vision within Wheeling, but it's a shared vision within Pittsburgh. And I think that's the thing that matters most is that it's a cooperative thing between Wheeling and Pittsburgh to extend me and it's one that I'm very blessed and fortunate to have gotten this opportunity. Now it's trying to make the most of it and keep producing. My goal is to have a player play for the Pittsburgh Penguins. When it's someone who came through here, that's when I know I've done my job right. I couldn't be more excited to just be back in Wheeling. I love it here. My family loves it here. It's one of those things where the pride is still to win a Kelly Cup. That'll be the mission.
Shirey: Derek, you've gotten some really rave reviews for the job that you've done there in a relatively short amount of time. Just what do you attribute that to?
Army: I think just my time in any organization prior, the team I was on my first year was really was 2014-15. And in my time, the guys that I saw come through were Casey DeSmith, Tom Kuhnhackl, Carter Rowney, Josh Archibald and then J-S Dea, Morgan Ellis, Mike Condon. So that span, even to this day in the ECHL, no one did that. I look at what we had in the 2015-16 year, the Penguins obviously won the Stanley Cup, we lost in the championship in Game 6, and then Wilkes-Barre got bounced in Round 2. The whole principle was winning was the focus. Tom Kuhnhackl, when he came down, I think they told them it was a one-week stint and he ended up sticking for two or three months, scored a big overtime goal in the playoffs had to PK, had to do all these things that adapted him to then go to Wilkes to take on the role and then continue on. I think the winning aspect in three organizations is important. For me, getting back to that is the principal point in development. I've seen the success in the numbers for guys we've had in the analytics that I have, guys are developing because they have to play in these situations. I think it's very important and I've tried to instill that culture. But also for me, I took pride in Wheeling. It's a hard-working, blue-collar town and I took a lot of pride in it as a player in the community. I've tried to instill that in the players now, be a part of it, the be a part of the fans, appreciate what this town is, go out and have lunch. Just be seen, because the people here love the Nailers and they want a team that loves being in Wheeling, and I think they lost that for few years to be honest.
Shirey: Going back to your work on the bench, with you being a relatively young head coach, and having been so familiar with the organization, how do you separate that fine line, as 'I'm the guy in charge here,' but also building and cultivating those relationships?
Army: I've been blessed, having my dad (Tim Army) coach over 1,000 NHL games. Being around it with him, I did have a little bit of an awareness of just life lessons and lessons along the coaching path that I was able to pick up. As I got into coaching, I had coaches who were maybe too close on that line to players, where it was a little uncomfortable, even as a player. As I got into coaching, I actually had to coach two former players, my first year as an assistant in Worcester. I did have many conversations like, 'Hey, listen. Yes, we were really close before, but this my job now.' I did learn. We were fired in Worcester -- myself, the head coach Jamie Russell in my second season. I learned at that point, because I don't want to say chose friends, or chose maybe some favorable connections on the team to keep around or make roster moves. It was at a point like, 'Hey, I have a son along the way -- and now obviously, I have a daughter -- I can't make decisions that I don't think help my family as well.' That's the number one thing I have to look out for, is making sure I take care of my wife and my kids. That was a big thing. Now for me, I do think the hugest part in hockey and any team sport now with the new age of players is making sure you have a relationship. You know, I want to know who their their significant other is, I want to know where they spend their summers, where they vacation. I want to know these things, because I want to know them as individuals. Myself, I have my son (Boone, 2) in the locker room all the time, my daughter (Adelina, 6 months) around, and I have my family around. So that relationship is there. I truly do care about every single player on this team. Now, there's certain lines that I obviously don't cross, we're not supposed to joke maybe a little bit too far. I don't cross it, I know where my line is with these players. The hard part is having to trade them or release them or things like that. But I think what I build up from the start with them is the honesty I pride myself in. I'm gonna be honest with you from the second I talk to you until whenever that time comes that it's over. I'm going to tell you straight up, I'm not going to beat around the bush and I think they appreciate that honesty, that trust that they know I have their back and their best interest and I am going to be upfront with them. So some of these decisions are hard, but I think they know that it's not a personal thing, this is business sometimes.
Haase: You coached the team that brought Wheeling back to the playoffs (in 2022) for the first time since you were there as a player (in 2016). This year, you fell short. Can you reflect on this season, why you didn't make the playoffs this year and what needs to change going into next year?
Army: I think the hard part at times in Wheeling is you don't typically get the veterans who live in the area. For us, I pride myself in moving players on and for us in the last few years, we've had 33 call ups. We've had countless guys leaving. So unfortunately for us in (2022), realistically I think we could have won the Kelly Cup. Sam Houde went up to Wilkes-Barre before Round 2 and we didn't get two players back who were up. I do think we could have won the Kelly Cup, but that's besides the point. As we've gotten to last year, we only returned eight of our top 10 scorers, and we didn't return our starting goalie. You're starting behind the eight ball. The pride is that we had three players sign AHL contracts that didn't have them the year before, we had a guys sign a couple of deals in Europe. There was some good things that happened. We move players on like I wanted to do, but then we had a large gap to fill. I don't think because of the run we were on (in 2022) we were able to bring in college kids or some of the younger players to test out. We didn't really have that next wave of players waiting in the wing to come up. Then on top of that, we had some players who we were banking on and had for short stints. We had Cedric Pare play nine games and then finish the entire year with the Colorado Eagles. (Sean) Josling was up in Wilkes-Barre for extended time, (Cam) Hausinger, we had a number of players. I hate making excuses. I do believe that no matter who's in my lineup, we will win. And that's the focal point. But it was a completely new team. I had a hard time looking at it that way. As we got through this season, toward the end, I really think we could have made a playoff push. But realistically I don't think it was a team that could have won the Kelly Cup, and I don't think it was a team that helped us next year. So for me, it was we need to shake it up a little bit. We've got to find what brings us a championship, we have to find the next crop of players that can come in and help Wilkes. That became the focal point at the end, the last 11 days, because we didn't really bring in college players the year before. The job was can we find some players to come in for next season? I think that was successful in that sense and successful in our call ups we got up but unsuccessful in the outcome.
ZACK RAWSON / WHEELING NAILERS
Josh Maniscalco
Shirey: (Defense prospect) Josh Maniscalco is a restricted free agent at this point in time, where does his game stand right now? It seems like he was a guy last year that could spend some time up in Wilkes-Barre maybe on a little bit more of a consistent basis. What are some of the strengths that he has to his game and what does he need to work on to get up to the AHL on a full-time basis?
Army: He was a guy who came in and was raw. The thing that hurt him was he had six games during the COVID year, so he lost a full year of development. I thought two years ago, we poured the role on and he got confidence. His thing is he always wants to play, he wants to be offensive. Unfortunately when you get to the next level, there are going to be guys who can fill that role who are more destined for that role. Just in general, there's guys in the American League who are the offensive guys, but they can't be the offensive guys in the NHL. So Mani is a guy who has that offensive capability but didn't quite have the polish defensively, the physicality. I thought over the last two-year stretch you saw analytically his numbers drastically increase, PK was great. His physicality, his hits, actually he ended up being second in our defense on hits the year before. Then this year, you saw his numbers, chances for and against, there were much more chances for. I have a lot of confidence in his game. Then when he went to Wilkes, I think you see that in his numbers that he played 24 games. He's a plus player, where down the stretch, there were some minus players. He was a plus player. He made those adjustments. I thought by the end he was really playing an important role for Wilkes and I think that's a good sign. The beauty of it is Mani, he's 24 and a lot of the college players that come out, they're 24. But do they have 200-plus pro games and playoff experience? No. I think he's a really valuable piece and continuing to push his physical side of things is is an area that I think he works on.
Haase: Another NHL-contracted player you had is (forward prospect) Jordan Frasca, obviously behind the eight ball a bit to start the season injury-wise, getting hurt in camp up here. I think with him, I was a little surprised just that he wasn't putting up the points like we saw last year in junior -- obviously though he was was an overage player last year and shared a power play there with Shane Wright. What did you see from him in Wheeling when the points weren't coming like they were in junior?
Army: For Frasca like you said, he had to deal with injuries. He came off of a shoulder injury in the actual development camp and then he had a high ankle sprain in main camp and a high ankle sprain is very difficult to come back from, and as a very young player who is coming to new place, it's not easy. I thought he was a guy whose game significantly showed development. Of all the guys for us this season, his halfway point, his numbers to the second half drastically changed. That showed him getting used to the pace and getting used to all these things. His first half, he maybe was a little step behind, and that has to do with the conditioning and the ankle and all that. But as it got going, you could tell he's playing with more pace, you could tell his faceoffs improved, which were a struggle early. That happens when you're now playing against men instead of the boys of the OHL. I think his real development was shown at the end, he was playing 19-20 minutes, he was playing first line, he was matching up against their top players. I thought he did a really good job. His conversion rate is where he lacked and I think that's just because sometimes you're just unlucky. For him, his conversion rate during the season on any chances for and against, he was at 7.41 chances converted. Our each individual average was 12.5. So it just shows you, his just weren't going in and I think sometimes that happens. His first 20 games, he only had three points. He started to convert more as he got more confidence. It just takes time sometimes and I think we saw it really start to convert for him at the end and really start to go in and show signs that he's going to be a player.
Haase: In (Frasca's) brief time in Wilkes-Barre, I was impressed by his attitude and his fearlessness. I mean, his debut in Wilkes-Barre, he was trying to go onto the bench after a shift and (Hershey's) Kale Kessy is blocking his way. Kale Kessey, one of the AHL's top heavyweights, and Frasca just tackles him into the bench. I talked to him after he was like, 'Yeah, I wasn't going to let myself be pushed around.' And for a rookie, that's impressive.
Army: I would agree 100% with that. We had our eyes on that incident. Then on top it for us, if you guys know a whole lot about Fort Wayne, they're loaded with heavyweights. They're tough up and down and they're going to try and bully you. We had some guys who shied away, which is natural. Frasca stopped at the net every single time, took an extra cross check. That's the thing that you try to teach these players and he naturally had that confidence. That's a really good sign, other skills will come. But being that fearless, not being afraid to play against a hard team like that, where a lot of guys are scared, was very impressive.
Shirey: Going back to his chances and his conversion rate, how tough is it as a head coach to really balance when you see the process there for a player but it's just not necessarily clicking? How tough is it to toe that line? And at what point is enough, enough?
Army: You know, that is very difficult at times. The hard part is when you're down to a competition and you've got to find a way to win. Like, I need these pucks to go in and we need these pucks to go in. I was a player where it didn't go in and these guys are trying now little things I always go back to. Something I learned from Paul Kariya years ago -- this isn't to me, it's through my dad -- is that in drills, he scored every single rep. It was just for him to see, I score every time. So as I became a player I tried to do that. I'm not Paul Kariya but that's what I try to tell these guys is that it's going to go in the net. Go to bed at night thinking for 10 minutes, watch yourself score, watch your highlight reel. In practice, see yourself score, work on these little things. What I tried to do is run them back through a scoring chance in practice just so they now see themselves scoring on that one-time pass or whatever it may be. But it is one that can pay off and can't pay off. We have named Cedric Desruisseaux. At one point this year, he had one goal, two assists through 12 games, and he's playing top minutes. His numbers showed that it had to go in at some point, like it just couldn't not. And I stuck with him. And eventually, it cracked into being a 30-goal scorer for us. But then conversely, I won't list the players name, but we had a couple players who I continued to go back to hoping it would go in. Now their numbers dictated otherwise, like they weren't generating the same amount, they had minimal generated opportunities. So for me, I was like, 'OK, it's not necessarily going to go in, I can live with a player who's getting a million chances for and not hurting the team.' Whereas it can't be an even number or can't be into the negatives. These players, that's when it was time to move on, was a you're a minus-10. It's continuing to go against us. It's time, unfortunately.
Shirey: Conversely, I'm sure it's probably tempting when you're seeing a guy that scores even though maybe the chance generation numbers aren't there, it's probably tempting to be like, 'Oh, well, maybe this could keep going a little bit longer,' right?
Army: 100%. It fools you. You try to ride the hot hand as much as possible in a case like that, try and say maybe this is one of those miracle runs, let him go. A Tim Tebow, Jeremy Lin, type run? Let them go. Now, eventually when they start to come back to the pack, then you've just got to step in and coach them again and just say, 'Hey, how can we get more opportunities?' Typically, though, I try to stay with players red hot, unless it's something glaring. I try to say, 'Hey, here's your space right now. You're feeling good. That's a good thing.'
PENGUINS
Brooklyn Kalmikov
Shirey: Another guy I wanted to ask about was (AHL-contracted forward) Brooklyn Kalmikov. He was up at Penguins development camp last summer. Where is his game at right now, what are some of your outlooks on him heading into the season?
Army: Yeah, he's a guy who can score. He's a shot-first player. I think the thing with a lot of players in today's game is you can't teach scoring. You just can't teach goal scoring and he's the guy who has it. He wants to shoot the puck. I think it's just the natural evolution in his game is some of the things that he needs to work on defensively. I think the biggest attribute to Kali is looking at his numbers second half of the season showed significant development. That's what I'm very happy with. His first half, he finished minus-15 in 33 games, his second half, he was plus-2. His chances for and against, his in-depth numbers -- going to the net, blocks, these things all improved. There's still areas of growth to his game to get to the next level, because you're going to start as a fourth-line player in the American Hockey League, and then you're eventually a third-liner, then you'll get your opportunity. That's what happened with Rowney and Kuhnhackl and some of the players I have played with around the league. For him, though, to show those signs of growth is very important. He's 22 years old, he'd be a sophomore or junior in college now. So a lot more growth to be had there. I was very excited to work with him. There's a bright future for him.
Haase: Defenseman Chris Ortiz, a second-year pro, he got a little more AHL time this year. What kind of steps did you see him take this year?
Army: He's a slick, puck-moving defenseman, and very smart, elite with his stick. Not afraid -- another guy who he's not a big defenseman (5-11, 172). You would think maybe he's a little timid, but not at all he when we play some of the hard teams, for instance. They try and take liberties at him and he finds a way to just continue to do his thing and be effective. He's a guy who can run a power play, is smart in terms of his penalty-killing, some of his gaps. Where he'll continue to have to improve is his defensive game and continuing to get stronger because there are bigger players in the American Hockey League. You just have to be able to adapt to that and start as a simple player. You know, Wilkes is probably not going to look to him to be the first power play quarterback or on the first pair. So it's about how can you keep it simple and just play a simple game. That's some of the things we worked on. His numbers over the two-year span continued to show growth in those areas. His numbers defensively improved. I thought his gaps and stick got continually better. He trusted his feet a lot more, which was great to see.
Shirey: The last guy I wanted to ask you about was (AHL-contracted forward and Robert Morris alum Justin Addamo). He's currently at the World Championship right now (with France) potting some goals. Where do you see him going as a player, because it seems like there's some legitimate upside there.
Army: I honestly see him as an NHL prospect. You can't teach 6 foot 6, 255 pounds. He looks like he should be a tight end and he is a player who in college, a lot of penalty minutes came from being overly physical. His feet need to be improved, but his shot? I haven't seen a shot like that. It's heavy. Goalies see this shot from a distance and he just beats him clean. He can't be moved around the net. I do think that he's a prospect if he continues to develop. This year for us he was originally a winger, and he started taking faceoffs. The thing I love most, I watched France-Hungary two days ago, and he took every important faceoff for Team France. That was a true testament to him learning the craft through the season, forcing himself to learn it. His game defensively was really good for us. He was ranked our top forward on the season, and not just within the analytics side of things. He was very impressive. I thought his speed, although he looks big and can lumber a little, he gets there. He can get going a bit. I think that's something for him that he can take pride in is going to Wilkes and he scored six goals in 12 games or something. There's something there. I think it was good to see him get re-signed because I do honestly believe that. You know, he can kill penalties. He could play the net-front of the power play. He's physical. He's learning that side of things a little bit more. The physicality, 6 foot 6, you're probably going to have to fight. It's just the reality of it. So he's learning that craft, but I was very impressed with him and he's probably one of the best guys you will you will meet as an individual. I'm excited to see where his growth goes.
Shirey: I almost wonder if he could develop into a guy kind of like Brian Boyle did and carve out a similar role like you were mentioned and be a bottom six guy who's relied on on the penalty kill a little bit. But Brian Boyle was a dude who could score goals, too.
Army: Yes, 100%. I don't see why not. He's self-made. He had a lot of coaches help along the way and then this year he did a lot of growth it his numbers. To me, if he continues growing like this, he is very, very promising. I think (Wilkes-Barre head coach J.D. Forrest) sinking his teeth into him with (Wilkes-Barre assistant coach Kevin Porter) and whatnot will be great. You can't make that size up. In a league where you look at teams what is the biggest thing, in these NHL playoffs down the middle -- size down the middle, strength down the middle. Some size on the back lines are important and he's a guy who can provide that and I think that's a very promising thing within the organization.
Haase: Last guy I wanted to ask about, (goaltending prospect) Taylor Gauthier, a first-year pro. You had him in the beginning of the year, he came up to Wilkes-Barre, had a great rest of the year. I'd be surprised if you see him again. Did you just see him having this kind of year when you had him down there at the start?
Army: Great person, one of those guys who is just a character, Happy, great to talk to. So I think his personality was great in that sense. Then on top of that, he's a competitor. I love a guy who in practice takes a shot like it's the Stanley Cup. That's where this guy's got that extra push for himself. He spent a lot of time with (Penguins goaltending development coach) Charles Grant with us and I imagine (Penguins goaltending development coach) Kain Tisi up in Wilkes. For example, his first game in Wheeling, first pro game he's going head to head with (Sebastian) Cossa who was the first rounder, Red Wings' pick, another WHL goaltender, and they're going head-to-head. So it's obviously in his head. He's built it up. And unfortunately, he gives up his first three goal on four shots. He gives up one from behind the net, he turns one over, it's in the back of that net. I think you want all three back. You blink, it's a tough start to his pro career. What do we do, do I get him out of the net? And I'm like, 'Let's let him see what he's got.' And he battled, he didn't give up a goal for the rest of the game. He battled. He came in afterward like 'Thanks for not pulling me out. I knew I had better,' and he gave us a chance to win. Aside from that he had a little stretch where he'd get some things going on that he was really good for us. He was elite. He played some high-end games, I could see his future from talking with the goalie development coaches, that he was a guy that they were thinking, 'He's going to be something.' I was very happy to see him have success in Wilkes because he is an unbelievable person.
Haase: I wanted to ask about something you've been doing, you've been bringing your son (Boone, 2) to press conferences. I know people love the videos, it's the coolest thing. When, why did you start doing that?
Army: So my little guy is always outside the locker room loving life, win or lose. So he's waiting. Now he's just asking you to do the interviews. Typically, I told him, 'Listen, only when we win, buddy.' And then this year, he would get too persistent. So I started just letting him come on. But it was one thing within the community of Wheeling, I want to be around, I want people to get to know myself and my family. They take care of my wife and my kids. I'll say this -- for me, my goal in life, obviously always was as a boy to win a Stanley Cup. I always wanted to have children and be a dad. That's the thing I love more than anything in the world. So having my son and my daughter is very important to me. I would have liked to have gotten my daughter in a couple interviews this year. I think next year I'll start to get her in as well. But I just want them to go through everything with me. I see the life I got to live as a child and being around my dad and getting to see all these players. I want my children to love what their dad does. I want my kids to love the Nailers and love being around hockey and fortunately he really does and he actually learned to skate with no help the other day, which was awesome. I'm truly blessed. I just want to share all these moments with my family and that's the most important thing. If I could share these little interviews with my little guy, that's what I'm gonna do.
Haase: Has he committed to Providence College yet, or is it too early? What would that be, the fourth generation in your family?
Army: (laughs) I talked to my parents right after we were having a son, I'm like, "A lot of pressure on this little guy!" We'll have to see where he goes. Who knows, it might be my daughter who's the Providence College hockey player! Somebody's got to carry the flag.
Haase: One last thing before we let you go -- any fun Brandon Tanev memories? I feel like we ask you whenever you're on. For people that don't know, you played with Tanev, linemates at Providence College
Army: Yeah, Tanny was something else. It was great to see him have the success he had in Seattle. The blow the kiss at the fan did not surprise me even in the slightest. He was a guy who worked hard, and I love the fact that he always wanted to battle, always wanted to compete in practice. He was a guy who no matter what, if it's video games, or just a Red Sox game on TV, it was always Game 7 to him. He hated Boston sports, I can say that. He would always go on with everyone about the Red Sox or the Bruins. To see his success has been great and very exciting, for sure. Same with my boy Noel Acciari as well.
