Nylander brothers officially reunited in Toronto
The Toronto Maple Leafs have officially decided to reunite the Nylander brothers in Toronto, announcing a deal for Alex Nylander.
After being drafted 8th overall in 2016, Alex Nylander, the younger brother of Maple Leafs stud wingerWilliam Nylander, has bounced around quite a bit between the AHL and the NHL. At one point, Alex was considered to perhaps be the superior Nylander brother, skill-for-skill. However, that's not the way things have worked out, despite William's baby brother having shown glimmers of star potential.
The Toronto Marlies have officially inked Alex Nylander to a 1-year AHL contract after the Stockholm product failed to secure himself an NHL deal this summer.
There are multiple reasons why this move has the potential to be a homerun for the Leafs. First and foremost, reuniting William with Alex should go straight to Willy's legs. His brother is his closest friend on the planet and with the two being so close, it will be nice for William, I'm sure, to have his brother around.
Secondly, Alex finished the 2023-24 season on fire, producing 11 goals in 23 games at the end of the year for the Columbus Blue Jackets. If the Leafs can work with him to improve some of the areas of weakness in his 200-foot game,.this one could be a steal. We know he can score, so now it's just about putting the rest of his game together.
Finally, this deal being an AHL deal allows the Leafs to start Alex Nylander in the AHL without having to clear waivers. This is vitally important for a team who already has a lot of fierce competition coming into training camp with limited spots available. Anytime you can avoid losing a guy on waivers, it's a good thing.
While Alex is able to still sign an NHL deal with any team of his choosing, it's probably safe to suggest that he'd prefer to stay in Toronto with his big brother, so it doesn't seem overly likely that he'd ink a deal to leave in his first season in Toronto.
If, at any point in time, the Leafs feel Alex is ready to make the jump back up to the NHL, he'd first need to be signed to an NHL contract, so we should expect the Leafs to leave at least one of their 50 contract slots available for the younger Nylander brother.
Source for stats: HockeyDBAlex Nylander stats and bio
| POLL | ||
28 JUILLET | 1804 ANSWERS Nylander brothers officially reunited in Toronto Will Alex Nylander finish his season in the NHL with the Maple Leafs after signing an AHL deal with the Marlies on Sunday? | ||
| Yes | 1321 | 73.2 % |
| No | 483 | 26.8 % |
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