Alex Nylander is leaving the Toronto organization behind, and this week he's heading to Calgary on a professional tryout with the Flames.
Nylander spent last season with the Toronto Marlies, and it turned into a real breakout by AHL standards.
He scored 24 goals and added 29 assists for 53 points in 65 regular-season games, both career highs at the minor-league level.
The playoffs were even better. Nylander added 6 goals and an assist for 7 points in 24 games, helping the Marlies win the Calder Cup.
That kind of production usually earns more than a tryout, but PTOs are exactly how depth forwards get another real shot in this league.
His brother William Nylander remains entrenched in Toronto's top six, coming off a 79-point season and an $11,500,000 cap hit heading into this year.
The Willy and Alex story in Toronto, at least for now, looks like it's over. One brother is a franchise cornerstone, the other is fighting for a training camp invite elsewhere.
Why Calgary is the right kind of desperate for this gamble
Calgary finished 34-39-9 last season, landing 30th overall in the league, a roster that badly needs scoring depth wherever it can find it.
General manager Craig Conroy and head coach Ryan Huska have real incentive to see what a Calder Cup winner with fresh career highs can still offer.
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A PTO carries real risk too. No contract, no guarantee, just a training camp audition against players fighting for the exact same handful of roster spots.
Should a player coming off numbers like that already have a real contract in hand? Maybe, but the market clearly decided otherwise this offseason.
If Nylander plays anything like he did in Toronto's minor-league system last year, this tryout could turn into a real NHL deal fast.
Either way, it's one more step in a career that's bounced between potential and production for a decade, and Calgary is betting there's still an NHL player in there.
Should Alex Nylander have gotten a real contract instead of just a PTO?
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