Penguins Update: Should Nylander Have Been Called Up Earlier?

In the wake of Alex Nylander’s very impressive black-and-gold debut last night, it fairly screams the question. Should he have been called up earlier? And if so, could it have had an effect on the moves we made at the trade deadline?

About six weeks ago, in the midst of a dry spell from our bottom six to rival rainfall totals in Death Valley, I posted an article suggesting that perhaps it was time to give some of our prospects an opportunity. Specifically, Nylander and Baby Pens linemate Valtteri Puustinen.

I reasoned it made sense to at least give these guys a look in advance of the trade deadline.

Consistent with our organizational reluctance to make any type of lineup adjustments other than those dictated by injury, Nylander and Puustinen stayed rooted in place down on the farm while the incumbents struggled. It was only during the week leading up to the deadline that GM Ron Hextall moved to correct some mistakes by shipping out slumping bottom-sixers Teddy Blueger, Kasperi Kapanen and Brock McGinn.

Although it’s an admittedly small sample set, Nylander absolutely looked like he belonged last night. He blended extremely well with Evgeni Malkin and Jason Zucker, while displaying excellent instincts and plenty of skill and touch. Better still, he consistently played between the circles and down low in the prime scoring areas rather than on the perimeter. Remarkably solid defensively, too.

Danny Shirey of DK Sports tracked Nylander’s zone exits and entries 5v5. According to Shirey, the 25-year-old winger didn’t fail at either blue line once. He had four D-zone exits, all with possession. Eight O-zone entries, three with possession.

In terms of 5v5 metrics, Nylander was on the ice for two goals for and none against, and 28 shot attempts for and nine attempts against. His expected goal share was 79.2 percent.

Even coach Mike Sullivan was pleased.

“So the coaches were really impressed with Alex’s game. We knew he was a guy that could make plays. He’s got good offensive instincts. I think that that’s the strength of his game. But what really impressed us was just his 200-foot game, his game away from the puck, and some of the details of defending his strength along the walls and protecting pucks,” the coach said.

Again, an admittedly small sample set. But Nylander does possess pedigree. Indeed, the 6’1” 192-pounder was the eighth overall pick in the 2016 Entry Draft. Blood lines, too. His big brother, William, is star forward for Toronto; father, Michael, played 920 NHL games spanning 15 seasons.

Could another potential contributor (Puustinen) be languishing at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton? Hiding in plain sight, so to speak?

For the record, Puustinen had a similarly impactful debut last season almost a year ago to the day. Skating on the third line, he collected an assist and was a plus-2 during a 5-2 win over Vegas on March 11.

“We all felt Puustinen had a real solid game for us,” Sullivan said at the time. “We’re really excited about where his game is going to go moving forward. He has great offensive instincts. He’s a great kid. He loves to play, and his energy is really contagious.”

Puustinen’s reward? The Finnish-born winger was promptly returned to the Baby Pens, were he’s continued to score at a consistent pace.

Okay, I’m gonna go to a really dark place. And I’m probably ignoring to no small degree the cap constraints that strangled our roster construction and personnel decisions from the season-opening drop of the puck. Constraints that were largely self-imposed.

Had we given Nylander and perhaps Puustinen a proper look prior to the deadline (and had they produced)? Perhaps it would’ve mitigated our ugly 8-12-5 stretch leading up to our present hot streak, at least to an extent. In the process eliminating the need to acquire Mikael Granlund and his $5 million cap hit. A contract that just feels like it’s going to be an albatross before all is said and done.