The 18-year-old Swedish rookie is eligible to play in Rochester this season.
From the BuffaloNews.com – First-round pick Alexander Nylander, one of the standouts of the Sabres’ development camp this week at HarborCenter, has signed his entry-level contract, the team announced Friday night. The deal is for three years and Nylander is getting the entry-level maximum of $925,000 per season in salary, with $850,000 in bonus opportunities.
“We are extremely pleased to sign Alex to his entry-level deal,” said General Manager Tim Murray. “When we selected Alex, we obviously knew he was a talented, skilled player. We look forward to him coming to training camp and competing for a job.”
Nylander, 18, was taken No. 8 overall in the NHL Draft June 24 in First Niagara Center. He led Mississauga of the OHL in goals (28), assists (47) and points (75) and added a team-high 12 points (six goals, six assists) in six playoff games. He led all OHL rookies in points, and earned Rookie of the Year honors for both his own league and the entire CHL.
Nylander is expected to join second-round pick Rasmus Asplund at Team Sweden’s World Junior Championships evaluation camp on July 30 in Plymouth, Mich. They were linemates in last year’s tournament and could repeat that role in this year’s event in Montreal and Toronto. Nylander is eligible to play this year in Rochester rather than returning to junior, because he was on loan to Mississauga and thus counts as an overseas player.
Nylander is the first of Buffalo’s 10 picks last month to sign his entry-level deal. He’s the sixth player in the top 10 of the draft to sign, joining No. 2 Patrik Laine (Winnipeg), No. 3 Pierre-Luc Dubois (Columbus), No. 4 Jesse Puljujarvi (Edmonton), No. 6 Matthew Tkachuk (Calgary), and No. 9 Mikhail Sergachev (Montreal).
Remaining unsigned are No. 1 Auston Matthews (Toronto), No. 5 Olli Juolevi (Vancouver), No. 7 Clayton Keller (Arizona), and No. 10 Tyson Jost (Colorado).