Alex Nylander will have to wait a little longer for his next crack at getting into the Penguins' lineup. He has been re-assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the AHL, it was announced on Monday by Ron Hextall.
It's been a bit of a hectic last month for Nylander, as he was recalled from the minors on an emergency basis on two separate occasions. Five days after the second emergency recall on March 11, the Penguins converted his status to a standard recall, meaning he wouldn't need to be re-assigned once they had 12 healthy forwards.
However, Nylander appeared in just two games after his recall was converted, both coming against the Rangers on March 16 and March 18. He has been out of the lineup as a healthy scratch in each of the past eight games.
On one hand, it makes some sense that Nylander has been out of the lineup because he didn't score and had just one assist in six games with the Penguins, but on the other hand, he at least appeared to be a positive influence on the ice, and not just offensively. He even earned glowing praise from Mike Sullivan regarding his off-puck play and attention to detail in all three zones.
The Penguins currently have only 12 healthy forwards on the NHL roster, so Nylander could be back in short order if one of them gets banged up.
