Capitals coach Peter Laviolette’s son signs contract with Penguins affiliate

Peter Laviolette is leaving the Capitals and joining the Penguins.

No, not that Peter Laviolette. The Capitals coach isn’t leaving the District ahead of his third season with Washington. 

Instead, his son, Peter Laviolette III, is the one leaving the Capitals to sign with a minor-league affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Laviolette, a Wheeling, West Virginia, native, signed a contract with the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL on Tuesday.

The Capitals had invited the 24-year-old forward to training camp, and he survived the team’s first round of cuts last week. Washington originally invited Laviolette to its summer development camp after Laviolette’s final season with Plymouth State University. 

“It’s not every day you get to say that you have a player born in Wheeling playing for the Nailers,” Nailers coach Derek Army said in a press release. “Peter has a lot of character, and he is coming off of a very successful rookie camp with the Washington Capitals and a great senior season at Plymouth State. He is a big player who goes to the net, and we are looking forward to continuing to help him in his development.”

Laviolette was born in Wheeling in December 1997 while his father was the coach of the Nailers — his first head coaching job after ending his playing career.