“When does Alex Nylander get his opportunity?”
I was reading Dan Kingerski’s article on Pittsburgh Hockey Now detailing forward Kasper Bjorkqvist’s recent recall by the Penguins when I happened to notice the above comment posted by Bill.
A lightning bolt struck. Creative juices stirred, I thought, “Yeah, when does Alex Nylander get his opportunity?” So Bill, this one’s for you.
Not to knock Bjorkqvist, but I’m not all that impressed with him. He’s not much of a scorer and seems a step slow for the NHL. With only four goals and six points in 33 games with the Baby Pens, maybe a step slow for the AHL, too.
But Nylander? That might be a different story.
Since being acquired from the Blackhawks on January 5 for spare part Sam Lafferty, Nylander’s put up solid numbers at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The 6’1”, 192-pound left wing’s tallied eight goals and 16 points in 23 games while skating on the top line, matching his goal production with the Rockford IceHogs and giving him a highly respectable 16 goals in 46 games on the season.
“Loads of talent,” Baby Pens coach J.D. Forrest told Tribune-Review beat writer Seth Rorabaugh. “Offensively gifted. Just kind of needs to round out his game… He can certainly do some things not everyone can do.”
Indeed, there’s no questioning the soon-to-be 24-year-old’s pedigree. The son of long-time NHLer Michael Nylander (679 career points) and the younger brother of star Toronto forward William Nylander, Alex was selected eighth overall by Buffalo in the 2016 Entry Draft.
Elite Prospects wrote a glowing evaluation of the Calgary native:
Nylander’s game is all about skill. Blessed with exceptional hockey sense, technical skills and overall offensive awareness. Very creative and shifty player with speed and soft hands. Furthermore, he has a great release, a good scoring touch and the ability to do the unexpected with the puck. On the downside, there’s some consistency issues and intensity could be better. Some room for improvement when it comes to his defensive game as well.
Unfortunately, Alex hasn’t lived up to advance billing. Struggling to stick with the woebegone Sabres, he managed only three goals and three assists in 19 games spread over three seasons. Apparently having seen enough, then-Buffalo GM Jason Botterill dealt him to Chicago on July 9, 2019, for defenseman Henri Jokiharju.
Nylander spent the entire 2019-20 season with the Blackhawks and appeared to find the footing that eluded him on the Niagara frontier, notching 10 goals and 26 points in 65 games. However, he tore a meniscus in his left knee during the playoffs and missed the entire ’20-21 campaign following off-season surgery.
Back to that scouting report…especially the first few sentences. I close my eyes and envision him clicking with Evgeni Malkin on the second line. Perhaps a pipe dream. But with the Pens’ secondary scoring drier than a cow skull baking in the Mohave Desert and potential linemates for Geno being yanked quicker than a set of bad spark plugs? It might be worth giving Nylander a look to see what we have ahead of the March 21 trade deadline.
As for those defensive deficiencies? According to his coach, he’s making progress.
“We give him some leeway to try some things with the puck,” Forrest said. “There’s kind of an understanding that if it doesn’t go his way, make sure you track back hard, you kind of make up for it, you recover. He’s done that, even when it’s not his mistake. The effort is certainly there. I don’t think that’s an issue. It’s just making sure it’s there all the time. He’s certainly willing.”
Rick
They should definitely give Nylander a look. I liked what the WBS HC had to say about him. It sounds
like he needs to develop some better work habits – consistency to his game and he might have a
chance. Can’t hurt to take a look.
Hey Rick,
Getting back to Nylander, I did review some video footage of Nylander.
(Been looking at Prospects Videos a lot lately.)
Remember, I was watching basically highlights and not full games, I have no idea what he looked like behind the play,
but what I did like about Nylander was more in how he stayed moving in the O-zone and didn’t let himself become a stationary pylon that was easily marked. He didn’t blindly, mindlessly cycle but tried to read the play and get ahead of it. He didn’t just crash the blue paint but drifted to areas in the high slot, where he could see more net (rather than jam the puck into the goalies pads) as well as circling around the sides of the net in such a way that his stick was open to accept a pass unlike another player, a veteran on this team, doesn’t ever seem to consider where the passing lanes are.
From what I saw, he really knows haw to play without the puck in the O-Zone.
Nothing I was able to find showed him in the Defensive Zone very long and only a couple of plays where the breakout was pretty much already underway. He may be a good fit, from an offensive perspective for say a Geno, but he is a -13 right now in the AHL. That is why I would rather give Puustenin some NHL TOI, particularly with Geno or Sid, but even with E-Rod on the 3rd line.
Hey all,
Just wanted to point out a must-read article by Gretz on Pensburgh titled, “Random thoughts: Teddy Blueger, Jason Zucker, and defensive play.
A very well-thought and insightful look into what’s going on with our Pens these days and the underlying reasons for the slip in our game, especially the defensive side. Other Rick, you’ll appreciate this…he cites stats that show we really haven’t been allowing many more scoring chances and high-danger chances against with Geno in the lineup.
I just really like the way Gretz writes and approaches his subject matter.
Rick
Hey Rick,
I don’t worry much about who gets called up. Barring injuries this is pretty much an exercise in futility a merry-go-round to distract the masses. Zohorna, O’Connor, Puustenin, Angello, Nylander, Bjorkqvist, Poulin, Legare and even Belleriv should all be given more TOI than Simon, Simon is collecting a regular paycheck and they aren’t. Next season, from the scouting videos I have watched I would add Kirill Tankov, Lukáš Švejkovský, and Raivis Ansons, (when they would next be eligible for the Black and Pyrite) to that list of players better than the Human Pylon, but so long as Sullivan is Coach, Simon will be a Penguin and on the roster.