The Pittsburgh Penguins announced that they made a trade this afternoon before their home game against St. Louis tonight at 7:30 PM. The Penguins sent forward Sam Lafferty to the Chicago Blackhawks for forward Alexander Nylander.
Lafferty had played in 10 of the Penguins' 31 games so far this season. He had zero goals, two assists, and was had an even plus/minus on this season's campaign. Lafferty failed to score a goal last season in 34 games played, but did have six goals and seven assists in 50 games played in 2019-2020 before the season was shut down for Covid purposes. He had become a depth piece at best for the Penguins.
TRADE ALERT 🚨: The Penguins have acquired forward Alex Nylander from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for forward Sam Lafferty.
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 5, 2022
Nylander, 23, is signed through the 2021.22 season and is valued at $874,125.
Details: https://t.co/CZuUyDxRxD pic.twitter.com/PW7zsYnObZ
Nylander was the 1st round, 8th overall, draft pick for the Buffalo Sabres in 2016. His career has not particularly lived up to that pick. He has just 13 goals and 19 assists in 84 career games in the NHL. However, Nylander is just 23 years old and comes at a cheap cost. Two hours after the trade was reported, the Penguins tweeted Nylander will start in the AHL with Wilkes-Barre, so he will not have an immediate impact on the NHL squad.