Flames sign Alex Nylander to one-year contract
The Calgary Flames have agreed to terms on a one-year, two-way contract with forward Alex Nylander, the club announced Friday afternoon. Per the club release, the contract carries an NHL cap hit of $850,000.
Nylander, 28, had been attending the Flames’ 2026 training camp on a professional tryout opportunity (PTO). He recorded an assist in Calgary’s 4-3 shootout loss to the Seattle Kraken on Thursday.
Selected eighth overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2016 NHL Draft, Nylander has appeared in 126 NHL games over parts of seven seasons with five different teams. He is the younger brother of Toronto Maple Leafs winger William Nylander and the son of former Flames center Michael Nylander.
According to PuckPedia, Nylander will be paid a $200,000 salary for any time he spends in the AHL during the 2026-27 season. He’s guaranteed to earn a minimum of $250,000 for the year.
Born in Calgary (during his dad’s Flames tenure) but raised in Sweden, Nylander came back to North America to play his junior hockey with the OHL’s Mississauga Steelheads in 2015-16 before turning pro in the Sabres organization the following year. He appeared in 19 NHL games over parts of three seasons in Buffalo before being traded to the Chicago Blackhawks for defenseman Henri Jokiharju.
Nylander spent the 2019-20 season with the Blackhawks, collecting 10 goals and 26 points in 65 games during the regular season before skating in the only eight playoff contests of his career to date. But he never played another game with Chicago after that and was subsequently traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2022, this time in exchange for Sam Lafferty.
After brief stints with the Penguins and Columbus Blue Jackets organizations, Nylander joined his brother in Toronto ahead of the 2024-25 season. He lasted two seasons in the Maple Leafs system, appearing in just five NHL games while spending most of his time with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, with whom he won the Calder Cup in 2026.
In 126 NHL games over his career with the Sabres, Blackhawks, Penguins, Blue Jackets, and Maple Leafs, Nylander has collected 25 goals and 49 points. He’s racked up 141 goals and 307 points in 459 career AHL contests.
