![]() A weekend that had started with a hard-luck 4-3 home loss to the Phantoms in which the Penguins had outshot the visitors, 42-16, ended with wins in two of three outings.įorrest used Nylander on the left side of a line with center Sam Poulin and Jan Drozg. A day later, the Penguins put away their biggest nemesis, the visiting Hershey Bears, in a hard-fought 2-1 effort. At 11-15-1-3 (.433), Wilkes-Barre/Scranton is trying to dig out from the standings damage created by an eight-game winless slide (0-7-0-1) that ended with a decisive 5-2 road win against the rival Lehigh Valley Phantoms this past Saturday night. This past weekend the Penguins made some progress. And when I get my chance, I obviously got to take it, too.” So, I need to keep doing what I’m doing, and eventually good stuff will happen when I do that. “It’s been great here so far, and everybody’s been really good. “ is to get up to the NHL level and be the player I know I can be and keep working down here,” Nylander said. “It’s just a matter of having to get used to the type of pace that the Pittsburgh organization wants to play and find some real consistency.” I’d like to see him maybe shoot a little bit more, because he is an offensive threat. He certainly has that ability, that elite skill. “When he has the puck on his stick, he can be a dangerous player. “The skill is evident,” Forrest began in his early assessment of Nylander. Providing that education has long been one of the AHL’s top tasks. But as with so many high-end prospects, it will be his play without the puck that will ultimately help him to break into the Pittsburgh lineup. “I think this has been good for me and especially coming to this this organization I think is really going to help me get to where I want to be.”Įveryone knows that Nylander with the puck means having a creative offensive asset. “I really thought that I was taking the right steps in the right direction, but I had surgery,” Nylander said. He produced in Rockford and ultimately finished with 12 points (eight goals, four assists) in 23 contests, but a 1-9-2 start in Chicago meant that the organization was looking to go in a different direction. This past fall Nylander found himself back in the AHL with the Rockford IceHogs. After rest failed to improve the knee’s health, Nylander had surgery that cost him his entire 2020-21 season. In 2019-20, his first full NHL season, Nylander delivered 26 points (10 goals, 16 assists) in 65 regular-season games for the Blackhawks.īut a torn meniscus in his left knee sustained in Chicago’s first-round playoff series against the Vegas Golden Knights in August 2020 halted that progress. Chosen eighth overall in the 2016 NHL Draft by the Buffalo Sabres, Nylander had landed with Chicago via a July 2019 deal for defenseman Henri Jokiharju. The trade ended a challenging stint in the Chicago organization that had started promisingly enough for Nylander. Forrest said, adding that Nylander “can help us a lot.” “We’re trying to find our way here, battle out of a hole,” Wilkes-Barre/Scranton head coach J.D. 4, the organization can afford to have Nylander hone his two-way game in the American Hockey League. But with Pittsburgh ripping through the National Hockey League with 12 wins in 14 games dating to Dec. The 23-year-old arrived in Northeastern Pennsylvania after the parent Pittsburgh Penguins acquired him from the Chicago Blackhawks on Jan. Nylander needs the Penguins as well in what is a crucial opportunity in his career. To qualify for the Calder Cup Playoffs this spring, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins will need newly acquired forward Alex Nylander to take on a major role in their lineup.
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