AHL: Toronto Marlies Sign Alex Nylander and Luke Grainger

Today, the Toronto Marlies announced the re-signing of forward Alex Nylander to a one-year contract and the signing of Luke Grainger to a one-year contract. Nylander first signed in Toronto last season to a one-year AHL contract, and would end up playing 64 games with the Marlies, recording 23 goals and 21 assists for 44 points total and playing most of the year in the Marlies’ top six. He also spent five games with the Toronto Maple Leafs as an injury call-up. Grainger spent seven games as a member of the San Jose Barracuda, with one goal and a minus-1, and 36 games with the Wichita Thunder, with 21 points and a minus-12.

Both players are known for their speed and skill. Nylander is an AHL veteran with consistent point production who can help chip in on offense, and Grainger is a versatile, two-way centre who can play all situations and contribute where there is need.

Alex Nylander

A forward born in Calgary, Alberta but who plays for Sweden internationally, Nylander was drafted eighth overall in the 2016 NHL Draft by the Buffalo Sabres after spending his pre-draft season with the Mississauga Steelheads. He spent three seasons as part of the Rochester Americans/Buffalo Sabres system, before being traded to the Chicago Blackhawks. 

In Chicago, he put up the best NHL numbers of his career, scoring 25 points in 65 games. In the NHL playoffs in the 2020 COVID playoff bubble, he suffered a knee injury that would cause him to miss the entirety of the 2020-21 season and part of the 2021-22 season. During a disappointing 2021-22 season with the Rockford IceHogs, he was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins organization, where he spent three years primarily in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. He signed the following offseason with Toronto as an unrestricted free agent.

In eight AHL seasons, he has accumulated 254 points in 394 games, with 117 goals and 137 assists, as well as a minus-30. He has 49 points in 126 NHL games. Last season, he became one of five pairs of brothers to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs, joining his older brother William Nylander, who the Leafs selected, also with the eighth overall pick, in the 2014 NHL Draft.

Luke Grainger

A forward from Montreal, Quebec, Grainger committed to Western Michigan University from the Hawkesbury Hawks of the CCHL (Central Canada Hockey League), where he led the league in points. He then played four years for the Western Michigan Broncos, scoring 38 goals and 65 assists for 103 points in 140 games. In his final season, he was named captain of the Broncos and received a Hobey Baker nomination for his 48 points in 38 games, although he would lose the award to San Jose Sharks first overall pick Macklin Celebrini. He signed an amateur tryout agreement with the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda. 

He spent parts of two seasons with the Barracuda and their ECHL affiliate, the Wichita Thunder, accumulating 1 point in 9 AHL games and 21 points – nine goals and 12 assists – in 36 ECHL games.