To date, he hasn’t played in any of the Flyers’ four exhibition games and he’s missed a lot of practice time.
Nylander is in camp on a tryout. Every day he is not on the ice only compounds his difficulty making this roster.
The competition for the 12th and 13th forward spots is pretty intense among Matt Read, Zac Rinaldo, Sean Couturier, Adam Mair (tryout), Tommy Sestito and others.
General manager Paul Holmgren said late Friday that Nylander has a minor injury that is unrelated to the neck surgery he underwent last season.
I feel sorry for Nylander because I know he has been training very, very seriously in Sweden. A lot of other NHL Swedes training in Sweden during summer was very impressed, stating he looked like his good old self. Personally I was very negative to his comeback plans but I changed my mind when I understood how increadibly serious he was about his comeback, he wanted to prove something.
Maybe Nylander overstressed his "old" body when training so much catching up after his injury.
Don't take this as gospel, but if I've got my information right, Homer has told Nylander that if he's unable to find another team, he can sign an AHL contract with the Phantoms if he wants to and hopefully impress enough to be given a contract by some team later on in the season (like Boucher did a few seasons back when San José took him on). I don't know if Nylander would do that, or if he will call it quits if he can't find a place in either the NHL or Europe.
After parting ways with 17 players on Saturday, as the Flyers began to stock the AHL Adirondack Phantoms' training camp, they released tryouts Michael Nylander and Adam Mair from camp.
Nylander, 38, did not play in a single preseason game after Holmgren revealed he had a groin issue. Mair, 31, played one game but the Flyers realized they did not need another penalty killer with little offensive upside.
"That was a hard conversation with both of those guys, especially with Michael because he never really got an opportunity to get in," Holmgren said.
The Flyers were hamstrung by the NHL's 50-contract limit and they have been impressed by the play of young guns Brayden Schenn, Sean Couturier, Matt Read, Zac Rinaldo and Tom Sestito. All five of those players remain in camp. Read, 25, has four points in three preseason games.
"We're quite happy with how some of these young guys have played," Holmgren said.
For now, the Flyers are exploring their options with Nylander, who may take a minor league deal. The Flyers' roster is down to 29 players. It must be cut to 23 by Oct. 5. Coach Peter Laviolette said to expect more veterans to play in the final three preseason games, beginning tonight
Nylander was plan B in case plan A Schenn would not have worked out. Obviously, Schenn is doing pretty well and even a for a healthy Nylander earning a roster spot would have been very very difficult.
I think he will call it a career and hang em up now....
