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Oliver Kylington

Snapshots: Kylington, QMJHL Fighting Ban, Kisio

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Calgary Flames defenseman Oliver Kylington didn’t suit up at all in 2022-23, instead staying in his home country of Sweden on personal leave. Today, Kylington opened up about his year-long absence to Swedish outlet HockeyNews.se, saying (translated) that “These are things that have been going on in the family for many years but which escalated to become worse, and there were mental and psychological problems I suffered from.” A seemingly refreshed Kylington said at the end of the interview that he’s now feeling “absolutely fantastic” and is looking forward to re-join Calgary next season, as general manager Craig Conroy confirmed last month.

The 2015 second-round pick had a lengthy development track, but the 26-year-old Swede fully arrived on the scene in 2021-22. Stepping closer to a top-four role, Kylington recorded career-highs across the board with nine goals, 22 assists, 31 points, and a +34 rating in 73 games. With the addition of MacKenzie Weegar into the picture in Calgary, however, Kylington might start out next season in a bottom-pairing role under new head coach Ryan Huska. That’s assuming Noah Hanifin starts the season with the team, which is far from a given as he remains a trade candidate.

Other notes from around the hockey world this afternoon:

  • The QMJHL confirmed today that fighting will be banned entirely in the league beginning with the 2023-24 campaign, following up on pressure from the Quebec parliament earlier this year to enforce such a rule. After adding a ten-minute misconduct for fighting to the standard five-minute major penalty a few seasons back, a fight in the QMJHL will now automatically result in ejection from the game for both players, more closely resembling the NCAA. A ladder system of suspensions is also being introduced to supplement the automatic ejections. Per the league, an “instigator” will be issued an automatic one-game suspension, an “aggressor” will receive an automatic two-game suspension (with the potential for more), and an additional automatic one-game suspension will be imposed for players who fight multiple times in the same season. The NHL has not commented on the rule nor given any indication they intend to follow in the footsteps of one of their largest junior-league feeders anytime soon.
  • The Vegas Golden Knights’ AHL affiliate in Henderson has added Brent Kisio to their staff as an assistant coach, per a team release. Kisio, the son of Golden Knights pro scout Kelly Kisio, had spent the past eight seasons as the head coach of the WHL’s Lethbridge Hurricanes. He also served as an assistant coach for Team Canada at last year’s 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship, where his squad took home the gold medal. Henderson will be under new leadership next year, with Ryan Craig replacing the outgoing Manny Viveiros as head coach.

Free Agent Profile: Caleb Jones

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It’s hard to believe it, but the NHL season starts in just over two months. For some NHLers they will soon be making plans to return to their respective cities to begin the upcoming season, for others like defenseman Caleb Jones, his plan is to try to find an NHL job in the next nine weeks.

It was surprising to see Jones go unqualified, as the Chicago Blackhawks elected to let him become a free agent rather than offer him a qualifying offer. Chicago needed to tender the 26-year-old at $1.35MM, but he was made a free agent when Chicago didn’t make the offer. Now, almost a month into free agency Jones remains unsigned, a somewhat surprising development for a player who has shown promise in his young career.

Jones, the younger brother of Blackhawks defenseman Seth Jones, was originally drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in the fourth round back in 2015 and played 93 games over parts of three seasons with the club before he was traded to Chicago in July 2021 as part of the Duncan Keith trade. Jones then dressed in 124 games over the past two years with the Blackhawks, putting up 9 goals and 22 assists.

Last year was a career year for Jones, as he had four goals and 12 assists in 73 games while playing over 19 minutes a night. Jones was tasked with playing second-pairing minutes on a very bad Chicago team and faired well despite not contributing much offensively. Jones led the defense core in many analytical categories and did a decent job controlling the play when he was on the ice.

Jones has typically demonstrated a good ability to move the puck well, utilizing his skating to push the puck up the ice and can keep himself mobile in the defensive zone to be a disruptive force on both the penalty kill and at even strength. However, he is not his older brother and doesn’t possess nearly the offensive acumen that Seth has displayed throughout his career.

The issue that Jones may face when trying to lock down an NHL job is that there is a bit of a surplus of left-shot depth defensemen in the NHL. Pittsburgh has Ty Smith and Pierre-Olivier Joseph competing for one spot on their third pairing, as do the Calgary Flames, with Oliver Kylington now returning after a one-year absence. The Ottawa Senators have several solid left-shot options throughout their NHL lineup, as do many other teams. For Jones, he could offer a solid third-pairing option, but there are very few teams who need that right now.

Stats

2022-23: 73 GP, 4-14-16, -19 rating, 40 PIMS, 86 shots, 48.9% CF, 19:13 ATOI
Career: 217 GP, 14-36-50, -39 rating, 80 PIMS, 225 shots, 48.1% CF, 16:49 ATOI

Potential Suitors

Jones would have teams lining up for his services if he was a right-shot defenseman, but he shoots left and typically plays the left side. While his market will be small, there are sure to be teams that could find a role for the younger Jones brother.

In the East, the Buffalo Sabres have Ilya Lyubushkin slated to play as a third bottom-pair left-side defenseman, and while he offers a physical element and does a good job suppressing scoring chances, he is not a good puck mover and isn’t particularly adept at much else. Jones could push Lyubushkin and create healthy competition for playing time in the Sabres defense core. The one barrier for Jones to Buffalo could be that the Sabres have already brought in Erik Johnson and Connor Clifton in free agency, and management may feel that they’ve already brought in enough competition on their back end.

In the West, The Anaheim Ducks have brought in a few NHL veterans to try and give guidance to their young stars. While Radko Gudas will bring some leadership and physicality on the back end, the Ducks could use a few more veterans who can teach their young players to become good pros. Jones could be a solid fit for the role as he has already played on a young, bad, rebuilding team and knows the challenges and tribulations that come with the growing pains of a rebuild.

Sticking with the West, another rebuilding club that could use some help on the backend is the San Jose Sharks. The Sharks aren’t pushing to make the playoffs this year, but that doesn’t mean they should stop looking for improvements. At the moment, the Sharks have 30-year-old journeyman Jacob MacDonald penciled in as their third pairing left side defenseman and Marc-Édouard Vlasic on their second pair. Vlasic was a terrific shutdown defender for a long time, but he has seen notable declines in his game for the past five years or so. Jones would likely offer an upgrade on both men while not costing San Jose much in the way of assets.

Projected Contract

Unfortunately for Jones, he is most likely going to be taking a pay cut from the $1.35MM he made last season. There should be a small market for his services as the season nears, but the native of Arlington, Texas, might have to sign a professional try-out to get teams interested in his services. Matt Dumba and Ethan Bear are both still unrestricted and might attract more interest as they are right-shot defensemen and have better track records. Jones should ultimately be able to find an NHL deal, but when he does, it will likely come in around the league minimum or a tick above it. There were many NHL defensemen who found deals late in the summer last year, and it seems that could happen again this summer with Jones.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Snapshots: Flames, Canucks, Lake Tahoe

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Missing out on the entirety of the 2022-23 NHL season due to a personal issue, defenseman Oliver Kylington is set to get going for the Calgary Flames this upcoming year. In a report from Ryan Pike of Flames Nation, Kylington is “excited” to return to the Flames this year. With one year, $2.5MM remaining on Kylington’s contract, Pike notes that the team has not yet engaged with him on contract extension conversations.

One player that the team has engaged in contract talks with is forward Dillon Dube (Tweet Link). Dube has been incrementally improving his game for years, capping off the 2022-23 year with his best performance, an 18-goal and 27-assist effort in 82 games played.

Luckily for the Flames, Dube will be a restricted free agent at the end of his three-year, $9.6MM contract signed back before the 2021-22 season, giving them a decent amount of control over the situation. In context, forward Tyler Toffoli is already off to the New Jersey Devils, and Elias Lindholm and Mikael Backlund are unsure about their future, Dube may have a significant role opening up for himself on Calgary’s roster.

Other snapshots:

  •  Today, the Vancouver Canucks released their ECHL affiliate for the 2023-24 NHL season, and it will be the Kalamazoo Wings. This will not be their first partnership, as Kalamazoo featured as the Canucks’ ECHL affiliate from 1984-1987, 2011-2015, and again from 2017-2021. Throughout their history as a team, the Wings have never won the Kelly Cup in the ECHL, but have employed NHL talent such as Ron Hextall, Jamie Langenbrunner, and Manny Fernandez.
  • Continuing on with news from the ECHL, the league has approved a new team, one that will reside in Lake Tahoe, CA. The team is unnamed up to this point, but it will be the 29th team granted admittance into the NHL’s second-tier minor league system. Interestingly enough, the team will be owned by former professional quarterback, and 2007 Heisman Trophy Winner, Tim Tebow.

Oliver Kylington Expected To Re-Join Flames Next Season

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TSN is reporting that Calgary Flames president of hockey operations Don Maloney stated Monday that defenseman Oliver Kylington will re-join the team next season. Maloney made the announcement this afternoon at a Flames press conference and stated that he was excited to see the Swede coming back to Alberta. The former second round pick didn’t play in Calgary this season and wasn’t with the team as he was dealing with a personal matter.

Kylington was very effective for the Flames in 2021-22 as he set career highs with nine goals and 31 points in 73 games playing alongside defensive defenseman Chris Tanev on the second pairing. His breakout season led the Flames to re-sign the Stockholm native to a two year $5MM contract extension in August 2022.

With Kylington returning it could make for an interesting shuffling of the deck chairs on the Flames back end. Calgary is just $1.25MM under the 2023-24 salary cap without accounting for Kylington’s cap hit. His return will most certainly put the Flames over the salary cap and require them to move out a player or two.

Calgary might already be interested in moving out some players given the year the team just had missing the playoffs. The Flames made huge moves last summer and was expected to compete for the Stanley Cup, but instead ending up parting ways with general manager Brad Treliving and firing head coach Darryl Sutter. The Flames have no shortage of tradeable assets and could move a couple of their pending unrestricted free agents this summer should they decide to rebuild or retool their roster.

Pacific Notes: Flames, LaCombe, Oilers, Studnicka

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With the Flames entering tonight’s action in a tie for the final Wild Card spot, GM Brad Treliving told NHL.com’s Aaron Vickers that he’s not prepared to commit to being a buyer just yet.  While he acknowledged that adding another forward would be nice (a desire that goes back to training camp), he will wait to get a better sense of where things stand closer to the deadline before making that call.  Treliving also acknowledged that he hasn’t received clarity on Oliver Kylington to know if the defenseman will be able to return this season from his personal leave.  That answer will go a long way towards determining what the Flames can or can’t do with his $2.5MM AAV and will also help to shape their trade deadline planning.

More from the Pacific Division:

  • With Ducks prospect Jackson LaCombe playing in his final college season, some wondered if the defenseman might opt to not sign with Anaheim and instead go to free agency in the summer. However, as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports in his latest 32 Thoughts column, that won’t be the case as the 22-year-old has indicated to the team that he will sign at the end of his season at Minnesota.  LaCombe is averaging just shy of a point per game this season with 26 in 28 contests, helping him earn a nomination for the Hobey Baker Award.
  • Oilers GM Ken Holland acknowledged to TSN’s Ryan Rishaug, Mike Johnson, and Pierre LeBrun on the Got Yer Back podcast (audio link) that he’d like to add before next month’s deadline but isn’t sure if he’ll be able to do so. Once Kailer Yamamoto returns off LTIR, Edmonton will be trimming down its roster simply to stay cap-compliant so they’ll be in a dollar-in, dollar-out situation.  However, with winger Jesse Puljujarvi and his $3MM AAV being on an expiring contract, he’s someone that could be moved as a salary offset to help facilitate a move.
  • The Canucks have sent Jack Studnicka back to Vancouver and the forward won’t play on the rest of their road trip, relays Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre (Twitter link). The 23-year-old is dealing with a non-COVID illness that is slowly improving.  Studnicka was acquired from Boston early this season and has four goals and two assists in 30 games with Vancouver so far.

Pacific Notes: Kylington, Golden Knights, Fanti

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While the Flames have been without defenseman Oliver Kylington all season so far due to a personal matter, GM Brad Treliving told Sportsnet’s Eric Francis that they’re not giving up on the idea that he will be back at some point in the second half.  Kylington had a breakout year in 2021-22, collecting 31 points in 73 games, earning himself a two-year, $5MM contract in the process and his return would certainly be a big boost to Calgary’s back end.  At the moment, there haven’t been any discussions with him about when he might be able to return but with the trade deadline now less than two months away, it stands to reason that those conversations will be taking place at some point in the near future as if Kylington isn’t able to return, Calgary may have to make a move to find a replacement for the stretch run.

Elsewhere in the Pacific:

  • There’s more help on the horizon when it comes to the Golden Knights. After getting center Jack Eichel and winger Paul Cotter back on Thursday, they could get winger Jonathan Marchessault back in the lineup tonight against Los Angeles, reports Ben Gotz of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.  The 32-year-old has missed six straight games with a lower-body injury but still sits third on the team in goals with 14.  Gotz adds that defenseman Alec Martinez also has a chance to return tonight although, with the team off until Thursday after this game, they could opt to give him a few more days of rest.  The veteran has been out for four straight games after being injured in the Golden Knights’ first game after the holiday break.  He has five assists in 37 contests this season.
  • The Oilers have re-assigned goaltender Ryan Fanti to Fort Wayne of the ECHL, per the AHL’s transactions log. Edmonton signed the 23-year-old to an entry-level deal back in March but he has struggled in his first full professional season, posting a save percentage below .900 in both the AHL and ECHL.  He had a 3.46 GAA and a .895 SV% in seven games with AHL Bakersfield during his seven-week stint with the Condors.

2022 Arbitration Tracker

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The dates for the upcoming arbitration hearings have been set, with the first one scheduled for July 27. Hearings will continue through August 11 this year, with that being the busiest day of the schedule. It is important to note that the CBA agreement in 2020 changed the rules for arbitration so that once a hearing begins, teams are no longer allowed to negotiate with the player in question.

The full schedule is:

July 27
Isac Lundestrom (Anaheim Ducks) – Settled: 2 years, $1.8MM AAV

July 29
Jesse Puljujarvi (Edmonton Oilers) – Settled: 1 year, $3.0MM

July 30
Kasperi Kapanen (Pittsburgh Penguins) – Settled: 2 years, $3.2MM AAV
Matthew Phillips (Calgary Flames) – Settled: 1 year, $750K AAV (two-way contract)

August 1
Mathieu Joseph (Ottawa Senators) – Settled: 3 years, $2.95MM AAV
Steven Lorentz (San Jose Sharks) – Settled: 2 years, $1.05MM AAV

August 2
Yakov Trenin (Nashville Predators) – Awarded: 2 years, $1.7MM AAV

August 3
Jesper Bratt (New Jersey Devils) – Settled: 1 year, $5.45MM AAV

August 5
Andrew Mangiapane (Calgary Flames) – Settled: 3 years, $5.8MM AAV

August 6
Miles Wood (New Jersey Devils) – Settled: 1 year, $3.2MM AAV

August 7
Kailer Yamamoto (Edmonton Oilers) – Settled: 2 years, $3.1MM AAV

August 8
Ethan Bear (Carolina Hurricanes) – Settled: 1 year, $2.2MM
Lawson Crouse (Arizona Coyotes) – Settled: 5 years, $4.3MM AAV
Zack MacEwen (Philadelphia Flyers) – Settled: 1 year, $925K

August 9
Maxime Lajoie (Carolina Hurricanes) – Settled: 1 year, $750K (two-way contract)

August 10
Keegan Kolesar (Vegas Golden Knights) – Settled: 3 years, $1.4MM AAV
Oliver Kylington (Calgary Flames) – Settled: 2 years, $2.5MM AAV

August 11
Mason Appleton (Winnipeg Jets) – Settled: 3 years, $2.167MM AAV
Morgan Geekie (Seattle Kraken) – Settled: 1 year, $1.4MM AAV
Tyce Thompson (New Jersey Devils) – Settled: 2 years, $762.5K AAV (partial two-way)
Matthew Tkachuk (Florida Panthers) – Settled: 8 years, $9.5MM AAV
Jake Walman (Detroit Red Wings) – Settled: 1 year, $1.05MM
Pavel Zacha (Boston Bruins) – Settled: 1 year, $3.5MM

Calgary Flames Re-Sign Oliver Kylington

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5:00 PM: The Flames have officially announced the contract.

4:39 PM: The Calgary Flames and restricted free agent defenseman Oliver Kylington have avoided arbitration. According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the team has agreed on a two-year, $2.5MM AAV contract with Kylington.

Notably, this deal will allow Kylington to reach unrestricted free agency once it expires. The deal covers the 25-year-old’s final two RFA years, and will give him the opportunity to hit the open market as a 27-year-old free agent. Kylington was scheduled to appear with the Flames before an arbitrator on August 10th.

Looking at this signing from an on-ice perspective, Kylington had a breakout season last year which definitely earned him this nice raise. Kylington was once a top prospect whose shine had dulled a bit in recent years. He was always seen as the type of pace-pushing, offensively-oriented defenseman who could excel at lower levels but might struggle to put all his tools together to become an effective NHL defenseman. This year, he found the right amount of balance in his game and managed to stay in the lineup and play in 73 games.

Kylington played most of the year next to Chris Tanev, one of the better defensive defensemen in hockey. Tanev’s shutdown game and overall reliability provided Kylington the freedom to operate and to act on his offensive instincts. Kylington helped the Flames reach new heights in the regular season, and he finished 2021-22 with nine goals and 31 points in 73 games. Kylington saw secondary power play time and, generally speaking, proved he could stick in the most difficult league in the world.

While he’s no longer a prospect, there could still be room to grow in Kylington’s game. He’ll head back to Calgary and join a stacked defense corps, hoping to help the Flames build off of last season’s success despite the departures of Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk.

Notes From The Calgary-Florida Trade

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Friday’s trade that saw the Flames send winger Matthew Tkachuk to Florida along with a 2025 conditional fourth-round pick for Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar, Cole Schwindt, and a lottery-protected 2025 first-round pick certainly was a blockbuster one that dramatically shakes things up for both teams.  Here are some additional news and notes from the swap.

  • The swap was completed as a sign-and-trade which meant Tkachuk re-signed with Calgary before being traded to Florida. That means that Florida doesn’t get the second buyout window that they would have received had Tkachuk signed with the Panthers.  That said, had Florida signed him, they’d have been limited to a seven-year term because he wasn’t on their reserve list at the trade deadline.  Calgary will still get their second buyout window once RFAs Matthew Phillips, Andrew Mangiapane, and Oliver Kylington re-sign.
  • Per CapFriendly (Twitter link), the condition on the fourth-round pick that Florida is receiving is tied to the lottery protections on the 2025 first-round selection. If the Panthers’ pick in 2025 is in the lottery and thus doesn’t convey until 2026, the fourth-round pick will also be moved to 2026.
  • According to TSN’s StatsCentre (Twitter link), this swap is only the second one in NHL history that sees a pair of 100-point players from the previous season being traded for each other. The other was the move that saw Wayne Gretzky go to Los Angeles back in 1988 with Jimmy Carson going to Edmonton as part of the swap.
  • Prior to the trade, the Panthers had held extension talks with Huberdeau, reports George Richards of Florida Hockey Now. There had been an expectation he’d sign a long-term agreement close to the $10MM that Aleksander Barkov is receiving next season as his new deal kicks in but clearly, GM Bill Zito preferred to allocate that money to Tkachuk instead.

24 Players Elect Salary Arbitration

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The National Hockey League Players Association (NHLPA) announced that 24 players have filed for player-elected salary arbitration, the deadline for which came this afternoon. This list is not necessarily the final and complete list of players headed for arbitration, with clubs now eligible to elect salary arbitration until tomorrow, July 18th at 5:00 pm ET.

Mason Appleton (WPG)

Ethan Bear (CAR)

Jesper Bratt (NJD)

Lawson Crouse (ARI)

Morgan Geekie (SEA)

Mathieu Joseph (OTT)

Kaapo Kahkonen (SJS)

Kasperi Kapanen (PIT)

Keegan Kolesar (VGK)

Oliver Kylington (CGY)

Maxime Lajoie (CAR)

Steven Lorentz (SJS)

Isac Lundestrom (ANA)

Zack MacEwen (PHI)

Niko Mikkola (STL)

Andrew Mangiapane (CGY)

Matthew Phillips (CGY)

Jesse Puljujarvi (EDM)

Tyce Thompson (NJD)

Yakov Trenin (NSH)

Vitek Vanecek (NJD)

Jake Walman (DET)

Kailer Yamamoto (EDM)

Pavel Zacha (BOS)

Notably out of this list, Mikkola had previously filed for arbitration, but the two sides were able to settle on a one-year, $1.9MM contract that will leave the defenseman an UFA after next season.

A key distinction to add is that any player who has filed for arbitration is no longer eligible to sign an offer sheet, effectively taking the players on this list off the market. Three notable names that did not file for arbitration are Winnipeg Jets forward Pierre-Luc Dubois, Calgary Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk and Columbus Blue Jackets forward Patrik Laine. Though contract talks have been quiet on Dubois and Tkachuck, word of amicable discussions between Laine’s camp and Columbus has been made known. Once tomorrow’s club-elected salary arbitration deadline passes, teams and players will have time to prepare their cases before hearings begin, running from July 27th through August 11th.

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