The experienced striker inks a deal with an additional Canadian NHL club.
Alex Nylander is leaving the team where he ultimately found some stability after having the finest season of his career. Although the younger brother of Maple Leafs player William Nylander has spent the last two years in Toronto’s system, his next adventure will take him out west to a team that might actually be able to offer him something that the Leafs were unable to: a real chance at playing in the NHL.
PuckPedia reports that the Calgary Flames will sign the 28-year-old forward to a professional tryout contract before the 2026–27 season. This is the sixth NHL club that Nylander has played for since Buffalo selected him eighth overall in the 2016 draft, the same draft position that his brother William was drafted in a year before.
Searching for His Next Chance, a Calder Cup Champion
Even though Nylander didn’t play much in the NHL, he was productive during his time with the Leafs organization. He broke his previous record of 50 points, which he set during his tenure with the Penguins’ AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, by putting up career-best numbers with 24 goals and 53 points in 65 regular season games for the Toronto Marlies during the 2025–26 season. More significantly, he scored six goals and seven points in 24 playoff games, making him a crucial member of the Marlies’ Calder Cup championship run. This featured an overtime goal against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the Eastern Conference Final that helped them win the series.
Even with those amazing AHL statistics, Nylander’s NHL resume is still disappointingly lacking. The Leafs gave him a brief five-game recall that ended in December against Pittsburgh during the 2024-25 season, when he last played in the big league. He went scoreless in those games. In 126 career NHL games played during seven seasons with the Sabres, Blackhawks, Penguins, Blue Jackets, and Leafs, he has only 25 goals and 49 points. His most productive stretch in the NHL came in 2019-20 with Chicago, where he recorded 10 goals and 26 points in 65 games before a knee injury during the bubble playoffs halted his momentum.
Interestingly, Nylander reportedly chose to remain in the Leafs’ system on an AHL deal despite turning down NHL offers from other teams in the summer of 2024. Craig Berube, the former head coach of the Leafs, raved about the brothers playing in the same league, describing it as “a unique experience” to watch them play together. However, Alex was unable to make the squad since Toronto was putting together a strong team to compete in the Atlantic Division.
Is Calgary Able to Offer Him What Toronto Was Unable to?
The Flames are in a really different situation than what Nylander was used to. Calgary had just 77 points and a 34-39-9 record at the end of the 2025-26 season, placing seventh in the Pacific Division and well out of the playoffs. While Morgan Frost led the club with 22 goals, Matt Coronato had a meager 45 points, leading the team in scoring. That sort of forward group uncertainty may be precisely what Nylander needs to ultimately earn regular NHL playing time.
Over the course of the previous eight seasons, Nylander has quietly established himself as one of the more dependable AHL producers, amassing 307 points in 459 games and placing among the top 30 active players in AHL scoring since 2016. The issue has always been if he can maintain that success in the NHL. His 23-game stint with Columbus at the end of the 2023–24 season, during which he tallied 11 goals and 15 points, indicated that he can perform when given the opportunity, but the Blue Jackets opted not to retain him.
The preseason in Calgary starts on September 20 at the Saddledome against Seattle. Nylander may have more chances to display his game under the NHL’s revised exhibition rules, which limit the Flames to veterans with 50 or more NHL games from last season in only two of their four preseason games. This may actually be to his advantage. Perhaps this PTO is the new beginning a Calder Cup winner with something to prove has been hoping for.
