There has been a tonne of news regarding the Calgary Flames of late, from Elias Lindholm being dealt to the Vancouver Canucks, the continued interest of Chris Tanev, Noah Hanifin officially going to market, and Jacob Markstrom almost being dealt to the Devils. There has been no shortage of talk about players leaving Calgary, but the one player whose contract is up at the end of the year who isn’t being talked about getting moved is Oliver Kylington.
Kylington has been a great story for the Flames this season since he returned from his almost two-year absence from the club. Since coming back, it has looked like he hasn’t missed a beat; he has been everything that the Flames could have asked for and more, which is why he should be a top priority once the trade deadline passes for Craig Conroy to get under contract for the next several years.
Kylington’s return has been a significant boost for the franchise
The last two seasons have been a pretty miserable run if you ask me. From the loss to the Edmonton Oilers in the second round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs, to Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk both leaving the Flames within a couple weeks of one another, and to becoming a mediocre team with no long-term success anywhere in sight. The team has had virtually no good news in years.
That all changed when Kylington returned to the Flames lineup last month and gave everyone a reason to smile when watching the team. He was so much fun to watch in his breakout season in 2021–22, and I think I can speak for everyone when I say that I could not wait to see what Kylington had in store for 2022–23. Obviously, he didn’t play last year to deal with his mental health, and now that he is back, he has been just a treat to watch every night.
For a player who hadn’t played an NHL game in 610 days, he came out of the gates flying like his usual self and making plays that we missed for a long time; he has a skillset that the team dearly missed during his absence. He notched his first goal since his return against the Winnipeg Jets on Monday, and everyone was ecstatic for him. Everyone has missed him, and it is so great that he is back playing. Most importantly, he has put everything behind him and looks happy to be back, which we all love to see.
Why the Flames need to sign Kylington
While the Flames might be in full sell mode just a few weeks out from the trade deadline, Kylington has to be a player that the Flames should decide to keep. The Flames will undoubtedly be losing a few defencemen at this year’s deadline; Tanev and Noah Hanifin are going to be traded unless something changes, and the Flames only have Rasmus Andersson, MacKenzie Weegar, and newcomer Brayden Pachal locked up past this season.
So, not only will the Flames need defencemen for next season, but they’ll need good ones as well. It is going to be tough to convince good defencemen to sign while the Flames go through this retooling phase. Kylington can be a top-four defenceman for the team and brings a dynamic skillset to the team that the backend has been lacking. He is young enough to have his best years ahead of him, and the team and fanbase would love to have Kylington around for the long haul.
The Flames handled Kylington’s situation extremely well—they gave him the space he needed and supported him at every chance they could—and he has come back as good as when he left. That in itself deserves a long-term extension. To be completely honest, I would be so happy if the Flames gave him an eight-year extension to stay with the club. He is the exact type of player that you would want through a retooling period, and he is someone you want on the team when you are finally ready to compete again. I don’t think Kylington will get an eight-year deal, but I think he deserves somewhere between the three-to-six-year range. If I had to ballpark it, I don’t think Kylington would want to play anywhere else at this point either. Keep him for as long as you can.
Keep Kylington in the fold by any means necessary
As I mentioned earlier, Kylington’s return has been one of the very few bright spots this team has had on the ice in the last two years. Many thought we may never see him on the ice in the NHL again, but here he is, playing his heart out every night.
It is one of the few moments this year where I have been extremely adamant about the Flames keeping a player as opposed to trading him. When it comes to Kylington, this is a player I would absolutely love them to keep, not just for his play on the ice, but for the perseverance he showed off the ice to get back. Whatever happens, I’ll always have a soft spot in my heart for Kylington for shedding his demons to get back to playing the game that he loves. That alone deserves a long-term extension to try and keep Kylington a Flame for life.
