Maple Leafs organization signs William Nylander's brother.

The Toronto Maple Leafs organization is bringing in a face very familiar to one of their top stars.

According to an official announcement on Sunday afternoon, the Toronto Marlies have secured the services of Alex Nylander, younger brother to Maple Leafs star forward William Nylander, signing him to a 1 year deal. The deal is an American Hockey League contract and there does not appear to be any indication that Alex will be directly impacting the National Hockey League roster, barring any potential catastrophes during the season.

The move will bring the Nylander brothers much closer together however and it may very well be that the Maple Leafs believe that having Alex around will have a positive impact on William which could result in Alex having an indirect impact on the main roster.

Alex does have NHL experience under his belt however and in fact his very first game in the NHL was against the Toronto Maple Leafs all the way back in April of 2017. The Maple Leafs would go on to win that game by a score of 4-2.

Alex has since gone on to appear in a total of 121 NHL games for various teams including the Buffalo Sabres, Chicago Blackhawks, Pittsburgh Penguins and Columbus Blue Jackets, although admittedly most of his time has been spent playing in the American Hockey League since he turned pro. 

Nylander is currently 26 years old and will turn 27 during the season (on March 2nd) and was selected 8th overall by the Buffalo Sabres at the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.