Auston Matthews’ Maple Leafs split up brother duo on roster before start of NHL season

Auston Matthews and the Toronto Maple Leafs are now watching the final tweaks to the lineup in Hogtown. With the 2025–26 NHL season closing in, the Buds mean business, and the front office made that clear. Family matters are having no effect, as the brothers on in town have been split up.

It was never going to be easy, but it didn’t hurt to dream. For William Nylander and Alexander Nylander, playing together in the NHL was the ultimate goal in their careers. It might be too good to be true, though. At least, the sibling-duo got to play a handful of games together with the Leafs.

However, it’s looking bleak for the two to share the ice again next season in the NHL—at least at the start of the campaign. Matthews’ Maple Leafs announced their assignments to the AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies, and Alex Nylander was among the players now reporting to the minor-league organization.

As reported by the official account of the Toronto Maple Leafs media relations department on X (formerly Twitter), Nylander is not making the cut for the Maple Leafs’ opening night roster.

There is still hope, though little

The decision to send Alex Nylander down to the minors is not too surprising. At the end of the day, the 27-year-old is signed to a one-way contract with the Marlies. It was always expected he’d report to them for the start of the 2025-26 campaign.

Still, there’s a beacon of hope for the two brothers. The younger sibling has already been in a similar situation, as Toronto signed him to a one-year contract last November. As a result, the Nylander family witnessed a historic event on November 24, when Alex and William played together in the NHL for the first time.

They will always have late November-early December of 2024

However, the odds of the Maple Leafs offering another deal for Alex Nylander to play in the NHL seem slim. After all, he did go without a point in his first five outings with the Leafs. In addition, Toronto’s context is not an ally. At the moment, the Buds are in a bit of a pickle with a surplus of forwards on the roster.

As it stands, the brother duo must be grateful for last year’s memories, when they played together in five games. The Nylanders became the fifth pair of siblings to play together in Maple Leafs history. They joined the likes of Peter and Miroslav Ihnacak, Art and Busher Jackson, Don and Nick Metz, and Barry and Brian Cullen.