Nailers add veteran forward Ryan

WHEELING, W.Va. - The Wheeling Nailers, ECHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins, announces the team has signed forward Kenny Ryan to a contract for the 2017-18 season.

Ryan, 26, gives the Nailers four veteran players for the 2017-18 season, as he enters his seventh campaign at the professional level. A 2009 second round draft pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Ryan first broke into the pro ranks during the 2011-12 season, when he played for the Reading Royals and Toronto Marles. He notched 23 points (13g-10a) in 32 games with the Royals, and went on to play three straight seasons in the AHL from 2012-15. His best AHL season took place in 2014-15, when he recorded 29 points (12g;17a) in 73 games with the Lake Erie Monsters.

Last year, Ryan chalked up three points (2g-1a) in eight games with the AHL's San Diego Gulls, while posting 33 points (13g-20a) in 44 ECHL games with the Cincinnati Cyclones and Indy Fuel.

Prior to turning pro, the Franklin, Mich. native played two seasons of junior hockey with the Ontario Hockey League's Windsor Spitfires. In 2009-10, he produced 35 points in 52 regular season games, then added five points in 19 postseason contests, as the Spitfires dominated the OHL en route to their second straight Memorial Cup Championship. Windsor fell short in the conference final round the following year, but Ryan had another successful season individually, amassing 60 points in the regular season and 12 points in the playoffs. He also spent two seasons with the USA Hockey National Team Development Program's Under-18 Team, tallying 31 points in 52 games. Additionally, he collected 49 points in 62 games with the U.S. National Under-18 Team.