Third time’s a charm?
As far as Alex Nylander is concerned, he certainly hopes so.
Nylander was traded by the Chicago Blackhawks to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday afternoon in exchange for forward Sam Lafferty.
For Nylander, 23, it’ll be the third NHL organization in which he tries to live up to the promise that saw him drafted No. 8 overall by the Buffalo Sabres in 2016. To date, Nylander has only 32 points (13G, 19A) in 84 career games in the league, never scoring more than 10 goals or 30 points in any one season.
Nylander failed to make the Blackhawks out of training camp this season, having spent the entirety of the 2021-22 campaign thus far with the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs.
Nylander had 12 points in 23 games with Rockford.
Lafferty, meanwhile, is an entirely different story. He has never been considered a major prospect, originally joining the Penguins via the 113th overall pick in the fourth round of the 2014 NHL Draft. But Lafferty has steadily carved out a niche for himself at the NHL level as a solid depth player, largely due to his hustle and nonstop motor that has ingratiated himself with coaches at every level which he’s played.
However, Lafferty hasn’t scored a goal in three seasons and doesn’t have anywhere near the ceiling that Nylander has. But after three years of Nylander not working out in Chicago, the Blackhawks decided to cut their losses and move on.
Nylander will be a restricted free agent after the season.
Lafferty currently carries a $750,000 cap hit and will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
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