Alexander Nylander is back on the NHL radar, and this time the opportunity comes with the Calgary Flames.
The former Buffalo Sabres first-round pick signed a professional tryout with Calgary, giving him one more chance to prove he belongs at the NHL level. It’s not a guaranteed contract, but it does put him in position to make a case during training camp and the preseason.
Nylander’s path has been a long one since Buffalo took him eighth overall in the 2016 NHL Draft. He debuted with the Sabres in the 2016-17 season and spent three seasons in their organization, but he never locked down a regular role. In that stretch, he played just 19 NHL games for Buffalo and posted three goals and three assists.
Buffalo moved on from him before the 2019-20 season, sending him to the Chicago Blackhawks in the trade for Henri Jokiharju. That year with Chicago was the busiest NHL season of his career, as he appeared in 65 games. Since then, he has moved back and forth between the NHL and AHL with multiple teams.
If Nylander makes the Flames’ roster, it would be his first NHL game since December 7th, 2024, when he suited up for the Toronto Maple Leafs. He spent the entire past season with the Toronto Marlies in the AHL.
The appeal for Calgary is obvious enough. Nylander is not likely to become the top-six scorer Buffalo once hoped for, but he has put together enough production in the minors to keep himself in the conversation. He has scored almost 50 goals in the AHL over the last two seasons, and that kind of scoring touch could make him a fit on the third line.
Nylander’s story also loops back to one of the draft classes that still hangs over Buffalo. The Sabres’ 2016 haul is a big part of why that era is remembered as a missed opportunity, even if the franchise’s 14-season playoff drought can’t be pinned on the draft alone.
The first-round miss starts with Nylander, especially with Matthew Tkachuk and Clayton Keller going two picks earlier. Buffalo also passed on Mikhail Sergachev, Tyson Jost, Charlie McAvoy and even Tage Thompson.
The misses weren’t limited to the opening round. In the second, the Sabres took Rasmus Asplund instead of Jordan Kyrou or Alex Debrincat.
There was one clear win in that class. Buffalo found Brand Hagel in the later rounds, one of the best late-round picks in the NHL over the past decade. But the Sabres gave up on him too early and never extended an entry-level contract.
Hagel has since become a key player for the Tampa Bay Lightning, and he has more career NHL games than the rest of that draft class combined, with 404.
For Nylander, the next chapter is simple: try to turn a tryout into a roster spot. For the Sabres, he remains another reminder of a draft class that didn’t deliver nearly enough.
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