Penguins A to Z: Alex Nylander found a way back to the NHL
With the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 2022-23 season coming to an end without any postseason action, the Tribune-Review will offer Penguins A to Z, a player-by-player look at all 49 individuals signed to an NHL contract — including those whose deals do not begin until next season — with the organization, from mid-level prospect Corey Andonovski to top-six winger Jason Zucker.
This series will publish every weekday leading into the NHL Draft on June 28 and 29.
(Note: All contract information courtesy of Cap Friendly.)
Alex Nylander
Position: Left winger
Shoots: Right
Age: 25
Height: 6-foot-1
Weight: 192 pounds
2022-23 NHL statistics: Nine games, two points (one goal, one assist)
2022-23 AHL statistics: 55 games, 50 points (25 goals, 25 assists)
Contract: Completing a one-year two-way contract with a salary cap hit of $750,000. Entering a one-year one-way contract with a salary cap hit of $775,000. Pending restricted free agent in the 2024 offseason.
Acquired: Trade, Jan. 5, 2022
Last season: Alex Nylander’s ambitions aren’t that complicated.
“My goal is to get to the NHL and stay there,” he said in February. “That’s been my goal since I was drafted. Get to the NHL and obviously stay in the NHL.”
Of course, as the No. 8 overall pick in 2016 and as a member of a prominent hockey family, Nylander has had much higher expectations foisted upon him for quite a while now. But stalled development with the Buffalo Sabres and Chicago Blackhawks as well as a knee injury that wiped out his entire 2020-21 season derailed those hopes.
So for the moment, just getting to the NHL for the first time in roughly 31 months is a victory to start with.
Nylander started the 2022-23 season at the AHL level after clearing waivers Oct. 3 and was the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins’ most consistent offensive weapon for the first five months of the season and was even selected to the AHL’s All-Star Classic in February.
On March 7, Nylander was recalled to the NHL level for the first time since August of 2020, and that transaction kicked off a series of recalls and assignments between the Pittsburgh and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton roster until the conclusion of the season.
In fact, by the regular season finale, Nylander was shuffled between Western and Northeastern Pennsylvania a total of nine times due to the Penguins’ limited salary cap space.
The high point of his season at the NHL level came during a 5-1 road win against the Detroit Red Wings on April 8 when he scored the opening goal of the contest. It was his first goal since March of 2020.
After the season, Nylander signed a one-year, one-way contract extension on April 29. He then suited up for Sweden in the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championship tournament and recorded two assists in eight games.
The future: Nylander will presumably enter September’s training camp with a better chance at earning an NHL roster spot than he did during the 2022 training camp.
He appeared to garner some level of trust from the coaching staff as he received some ice time on the second line late in the 2022-23 campaign. And he is entering a one-way contract so there is presumably more motivation from management to keep him on the NHL roster. Plus, he’s making the minimum salary which is always a favorable trait to a franchise that typically spends to the salary cap ceiling.
Nylander hasn’t come close to realizing his considerable potential and there’s no guarantee that he’ll ever accomplish that with the Penguins or any other team. But he has every chance to do that now that he’s found a way back to the NHL.
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.