Prospect Info: Alex Nylander (2016, 8th) – '17-18: Rochester #92 (AHL)

[GellMann]

Playing with Eichel it will. He will easily pot 20 a year with him as a line mate and that shot with some pp time. Besides Eichel and Casey he has the most offensive potential of anyone with this team.

But he doesn't have 20 in two years in a league where the goalies and defenses are way worse and where he has a lot more space.

I'm not saying he won't be an NHLer, but I don't think his shot is winning him a spot the way you suggested.

I am curious on what your measuring stick is for prospects?

That's a big question, it depends on what my expectations are of the prospect and what they've shown so far.

My favorite Sabres prospect is probably Asplund, relative to my expectations for where they end up.

I loved the Nylander pick but my own viewings plus takes from people who watch the Amerks all of the time tell me that he's a long way from being a good team hockey player versus someone who has sick mits in warmups and can pick corners in an accuracy contest. It just hasn't translated to games and he's spent so much time floating around disinterested that I had lost all hope, until I heard that he's started being more receptive and that it's been getting positive results. I have no expectations of him but I won't rule out the possibility of him becoming a decent player in this league, while I would have been tempted to do so a month ago, only because this is the FIRST sign of life he's shown since being drafted.

Prospects who show that life, and who play hockey with drive and passion, don't need to overcome the hurdle for me that Nylander did.

A guy like Casey, I don't necessarily agree with people here who think the world of him, but I think he's going to be a very effective top 6 player at least, and I am happy with what I've seen from him so far in Buffalo even though I'm not drooling over average plays like I've seen people (not necessarily here) do.

 

[CatsforReinhart]

CHL prospects wouldn't even be in the AHL right now. Next year worry about Nylander

 

[Kyndig]

Making an NHL career out of a shot that got him 17 goals in 112 games since being drafted? Does it get easier or harder to get shots off at the NHL level? Are the goalies better or worse?

Let me preface this by saying Nylander is not Laine. Laine only scored 17 goals in his final year in the Finish league in 46 games. I think it's kind of hard to say he would go from that to scoring around 40 in both his seasons in the NHL. Sometimes players just produce more in the NHL.

I don't know if Nylander has been better as I haven't been watching Amerk games but he's been producing a lot more lately. In his last 20 games he has 17 points, 5 goals and 12 assists, which is much improved on where he was earlier in the season.

 

[Icicle]

Floaters don't do well in Housley's system. He's adjusting. I doubt he'd just 'do better' in the NHL with better players feeding him pucks. Those 'better players' are mostly the exact same guys he has had in the AHL.

 

[Kyndig]

Floaters don't do well in Housley's system. He's adjusting. I doubt he'd just 'do better' in the NHL with better players feeding him pucks. Those 'better players' are mostly the exact same guys he has had in the AHL.

Sorry but I don't understand this. Eichel, ROR, and CM are vastly superior to anything we have in the AHL in every regard. Unless you assume he would be thrown on the 4th line, which WOULD be the Housley thing to do.

 

[Icicle]

Sorry but I don't understand this. Eichel, ROR, and CM are vastly superior to anything we have in the AHL in every regard. Unless you assume he would be thrown on the 4th line, which WOULD be the Housley thing to do.

I don’t get why you say this. Mittlestadt was given good wingers. Erod was mostly given good wingers. Okposo isn’t Nolan. Eichel is the one who has been subjected to total junk. Nolan is also playing more consistently than the other jokes for wingers on this team.

He’s got terrible players to work with, it’s not like he has much of a choice.

Baptiste and Bailey and bottom-6 players. They are where they belong.

 

[Kyndig]

I don’t get why you say this. Mittlestadt was given good wingers. Erod was mostly given good wingers. Okposo isn’t Nolan. Eichel is the one who has been subjected to total junk. Nolan is also playing more consistently than the other jokes for wingers on this team.

He’s got terrible players to work with, it’s not like he has much of a choice.

Baptiste and Bailey and bottom-6 players. They are where they belong.

Okposo has 4 ES points in 2 months (1 of which was WITH Mittelstadt) in around 25-30 games mostly playing with ROR or Eichel. Baptiste literally has the same amount of ES points in the same time frame but hes been doing it from the 4th line mostly playing with Nolan 8 minutes a night. I would bet a ton of money Baptiste would have a lot more than 4 ES points in 2 months playing with ROR and Eichel.
Besides Mittelstadt has 2 points in 3 games in the NHL when he hasn't played for nearly a month and hes only getting around 13 minutes a night, how is anyone we have in Rochester better than him at this point?

Erod is one of our best wingers but that speaks to the problem of the team and why Nylander could easily be on the roster next year with Eichel or ROR. Who do we have to fill those spots? Exactly...no one.

I agree Baptiste and Bailey belong on the bottom 6...except we have people playing wing in the top 6 that don't even belong in the NHL at this point.

 

[Icicle]

Okposo has 4 ES points in 2 months (1 of which was WITH Mittelstadt) in around 25-30 games mostly playing with ROR or Eichel. Baptiste literally has the same amount of ES points in the same time frame but hes been doing it from the 4th line mostly playing with Nolan 8 minutes a night. I would bet a ton of money Baptiste would have a lot more than 4 ES points in 2 months playing with ROR and Eichel.
Besides Mittelstadt has 2 points in 3 games in the NHL when he hasn't played for nearly a month and hes only getting around 13 minutes a night, how is anyone we have in Rochester better than him at this point?

Erod is one of our best wingers but that speaks to the problem of the team and why Nylander could easily be on the roster next year with Eichel or ROR. Who do we have to fill those spots? Exactly...no one.

I agree Baptiste and Bailey belong on the bottom 6...except we have people playing wing in the top 6 that don't even belong in the NHL at this point.

Okposo has been 4th lined multiple times this season. It’s a losing season we gotta get him to fight through his head pains. He isn’t bad defensively, which is the biggest help Mittelstadt could get. We just have awful players, and I do expect him to be on Jack’s wing before the end of the season to see how he fares there.

 

[Kyndig]

Okposo has been 4th lined multiple times this season. It’s a losing season we gotta get him to fight through his head pains. He isn’t bad defensively, which is the biggest help Mittelstadt could get. We just have awful players, and I do expect him to be on Jack’s wing before the end of the season to see how he fares there.

A real stalwart out there having the 2nd worst +- in the entire league and sporting a 47.1% CF at even strength. I'm sick of this franchise hanging onto their players way beyond their glory days and putting them largely on the top 2 lines. They did it with Moulson and now its Okposo.

 

[MightyMuffins]

The are recalling Nylander up

 

[CatsforReinhart]

Another thought in this is maybe Buffalo wants to trade him. Showing what he can do at the NHL might help.

Although Housley probably plays him for 8 minutes

 

[SnuggaRUDE]

They're not going to trade him.

 

[darcyRegier]

I thought he played well, he's only 20 and in his 6th ever NHL game. Kid's got a future in the top 6 if he can add a few more pounds and get his motor going constantly imo

Anyone think he has a chance at a 3rd line role to start next season?

 

[Chainshot]

Some definite rough edges to his game. At least he didn't seem to get hurt tonight. I fear for Porter in the pressbox stubbing a toe or something.

 

[Snippit]

He made a few nice plays but I still can't believe he looked as slow as he did

 

[Eye of Ra]

dont worry, he will be a good nhl player one day.

he just turned 20.

 

[toomuchsauce]

I thought Nylander was good tonight, and, generally, speaking, he's been playing very well since he turned 20.

I doubt he's being showcased unless there is some behind-the-scenes stuff going on (i.e. if his dad, agent, whoever discretely asked for a trade because they don't want Alex in the AHL again next year or something). I lean toward thinking he's just been playing better and GMJBotts wants to see what looks like in the NHL, but...who knows. Even if his representation asked for a trade, practically speaking, Alex has more value in this organization than he would as a trade piece, for two reasons. 1) He's got more hands/puck skills than anyone else in the organization. That doesn't mean he's going to be an effective player, but it means he's got a great chance. 2) Speaking of being an "effective player," I've seen enough smart play and good stick work from him as a 20-year old to think that, even if he doesn't become a dominant scorer, he's got the tools to be a positive possession player. The organization has too few of those, too. I've said it before, I'll say it again: he reminds me of Sam Reinhart, but with a different skill set. If he can develop his professional game the way Sam has, then he's going to be a good player, even if he doesn't score as much as we would hope.

 

[valet]

Nylander was invisible tonight, didn't stand out positively or negatively.

I'll take this as a sign that he needs to build some confidence. He might be afraid of making mistakes.

 

[ZZamboni]

Hopefully next season he makes the jump in more ways than one.

 

[AustonsNostrils]

I was modestly encouraged by him as the game went on. He worked hard without the puck. He needs to put it into another gear, move the feet all the time and faster.

 

[CatsforReinhart]

Nylander was invisible tonight, didn't stand out positively or negatively.

I'll take this as a sign that he needs to build some confidence. He might be afraid of making mistakes.

He definitely wasn't invisible. He made a few plays out there. Watching him play I question how he does so poor in the AHL. The skill is definitely there

 

[ZZamboni]

The only knock I would say is something that has been his issue forever. He just simply doesn’t engage physically. It hurts his effectiveness so much.
I’m not talking Nolan level. I would love if it was just ROR or Okposo level.
The skill is apparent. Hope he brings it all together next year.

 

[old kummelweck]

The only knock I would say is something that has been his issue forever. He just simply doesn’t engage physically. It hurts his effectiveness so much.
I’m not talking Nolan level. I would love if it was just ROR or Okposo level.
The skill is apparent. Hope he brings it all together next year.

He's so lanky and slight. He's playing against men and getting out-muscled. The problem with this team is they aren't playing a high-speed, skating style. The team slowness limits how effective the speedy, skill guys can be when you are playing dump and chase.

 

[Tatanka]

I get the impression that many were expecting a bigger impact. I was not expecting much do to the fact that he had limited time to practice with his new team, and was probably a bit unsure of what was expected of him. I some things that I liked though. When he roofed that shot into the rafters I smiled. Too many times I saw players, including vets, bang that puck right into the goalie without even thinking. it was reactionary. Nylander processed the moment quickly enough to realize that the only space was high. That was instinct. He missed, but I liked the instinct.

 

[Chainshot]

If they could allow Blackwell to remote pilot Nylander, we'd be all set.