Nylander PTO Makes Two: Calgary Keeps Patching the Roster

Alex Nylander is the latest name added to Calgary's training camp invite list, arriving on a professional tryout agreement. That's now two PTOs in as many days, following the expected signing of a former Penguins forward reported Wednesday. The Flames aren't done shopping the bargain rack, and given what's sitting in the medical tent, that's not a surprise.

The context hasn't changed much since I wrote about this cluster in mid-August: Huberdeau, Jake Bean, Connor Zary, Samuel Honzek, and several others were all placed on injured reserve heading into camp. Of that group, Henry Mews is the only player with a confirmed current injury status in hand. The rest of the timeline is murky, which is exactly why the front office is stacking PTOs — you audition bodies when you don't know which bodies will be available.

What makes this stretch uncomfortable is that Calgary already traded away Blake Coleman, one of the few forwards who finished last season in positive territory. The blue-line bet on Simon Nemec is the offseason's centerpiece, and it may well pay off. But the forward depth was thin before the injuries, and it's thinner now. Two PTOs won't fix that math; they just keep the options open until camp sorts things out.