Loan Another Strange Twist in Nylander Saga

When the Capitals had Michael Nylander participate in training camp yet failed to dress him in the team's six exhibition games, it certainly raised some eyebrows among observers that while the team was looking to move the forward, not having him play certainly wasn't helping matters.

Perhaps the Caps felt a move was more inevitable than it was during preseason, but Nylander's absence from the Capitals lineup certainly would make any team think twice about adding him to their roster sight unseen.

As one of the few who saw Nylander in September during a Duchesne Cup scrimmage, it certainly wasn't a good showing, as he coughed up the puck while attempting to curl at the blueline and leading to an odd-man rush against his squad. The lack of playing time in the preseason certainly would serve as a warning flag to potential suitors, as while there is some merit to keeping a skater out of action with a pending trade, leaving him out completely certainly sends the wrong signals.

Now, with the Grand Rapids Griffins looking to turn around from a 1-4 start and the Red Wings having called up some of the Griffins' key forwards, George McPhee found a partner willing to take a two-week loan of Nylander to give him a chance to showcase his skills without taking ice time away from the Capitals or their prospects in Hershey.

While there certainly are some NHL teams that might potentially be interested - the Bruins with two key forwards out this week for extended periods come to mind - it seems the Capitals seem intent on trying to send the veteran to Europe rather than having him play in the NHL where he could come back to hurt the Caps despite paying a large percentage of his salary - potentially a bigger percentage than they gave the Rangers to take Jaromir Jagr off their hands.

The question which will be answered is if this is the beginning of the endgame for Nylander with Washington, or if it's a desperate gambit to try and jumpstart a non-existent trade market with five AHL contests before his two-week stint ends.