Alex Nylander is sticking around.
The Penguins on Saturday announced that Nylander was re-signed to a one-year deal that carries a $775,000 cap hit at the NHL level. It is a one-way contract, which only means that he is paid the same $775,000 if he is re-assigned to the minors. He would require waivers to be sent down, just as with this past season, as a result of his age and NHL experience. If he is in the minors, his entire cap hit would come off of the books.
Nylander, 25, was set to become a restricted free agent.
This was Nylander's first full season in the Penguins organization after being acquired in a midseason trade in 2021-22 in a deal that sent Sam Lafferty to the Blackhawks. Nylander set career-high scoring totals in the AHL with 25 goals and 25 assists in 55 games. He was recalled for nine games at the NHL level, scoring one goal and one assist primarily in a third-line role, though he did see a brief stint on Evgeni Malkin's wing. His goal came in a win in Detroit on April 8:
The Penguins, of course, still don't have a general manager. Decisions like these are being made by the committee managing the day-to-day operations in the meantime -- director of hockey operations Alec Schall, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton general manager/manager of hockey operations Erik Heasley, and hockey operations analyst Andy Saucier, with assistance from Mike Sullivan. Again, that is the group of individuals handling these managerial duties, not the search committee hiring their own boss.
