Examining Alex Nylander's Maple Leafs Stint As He Goes On NHL Waivers

The Toronto Maple Leafs placed Alex Nylander and Dakota Mermis on NHL waivers Wednesday, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

Mermis was activated from long-term injured reserve and will likely head back to the AHL once he clears waivers. But Nylander initially signed with the AHL's Toronto Marlies despite saying he had other NHL offers for the chance to play with his brother, William, on the Maple Leafs. He got that opportunity when injuries arose, but he's now back on the waiver wire for 31 other teams to claim after five NHL games.

When the parent club signed the 26-year-old to an NHL deal and called him up, Nylander had eight goals and 12 points in 14 AHL games with the Marlies. He also headed into this season after posting 11 goals and 15 points in 23 games for the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2023-24.

But his flashes of success with the Blue Jackets and Marlies have not translated to the Maple Leafs this season.

In his three pre-season games for Toronto, Nylander was a minus-1 and took three shots but had no points.

In the five games Nylander played for the Maple Leafs between Nov. 24 and Dec. 7, he still had no points, took four shots and was a minus-1.

While he won three of four faceoffs, Nylander had one takeaway and three giveaways. And when he was on the ice at 5-on-5, the Maple Leafs had about 46 percent of the chances and about 39 percent of the expected goals, according to naturalstattrick.com.

A big difference between Nylander's stint with the Maple Leafs and his action with the Blue Jackets was ice time. He averaged 16:46 of ice time in Columbus, compared to 9:53 with the Maple Leafs. After logging about 10 minutes in his first two games, he recorded 8:32 of ice time the game afterward, followed by 9:53 and 9:18. He also got some power-play time with the Leafs, averaging 1:38 in that regard.

As The Hockey News' David Alter explained, left winger Bobby McMann is expected to return from injury soon, and Max Domi already has. That makes Nylander the next one to go after the Maple Leafs assigned Nikita Grebenkin to the Marlies on Tuesday following zero points and 13 hits in seven games.

The NHL teams that were reportedly interested in Nylander during the off-season now can claim him without trading anything or anyone. He has a $775,000 cap hit for this season and is a pending UFA. Otherwise, the Leafs can assign him back to the Marlies.

The Buffalo Sabres drafted Nylander eighth overall in 2016. Since then, he's played for the Sabres, Blackhawks, Penguins, Blue Jackets and Maple Leafs, recording an NHL total of 25 goals and 49 points in 126 games.

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