Kylington grateful for his time with Flames
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Oliver Kylington, once viewed as a fixture on the Calgary Flames blueline before his summer departure from the team, returns to the Saddledome on Thursday for the first time as a member of the Colorado Avalanche.
Kylington was a pending free agent last July and chose to test the market after declining an offer from the Flames. He went unsigned until August, when he inked a one-year pact with Colorado. The Flames host the Avalanche tonight at the Saddledome.
“I was not happy at that time,” he said after morning skate. “I’m not going to comment on everything, but there’s a lot that happened. It was a new place for me to be in, and also…yeah, it was a new world. It was a lot of stuff that happened, and now I’m here.”
Kylington spent part of Wednesday night at captain Mikael Backlund’s house and has seen several other former teammates this week.
The Flames drafted him in 2015 and he had become a top-four blueliner during the 2021-22 campaign before leaving the club to focus on his mental health. Kylington missed a season and a half before returning in February of 2024.
“I kind of grew up here,” he said. “A lot of friendships that I still have. A lot of familiar faces that I still enjoy seeing. It brings back a lot of memories, a lot of good memories. I’m grateful for my time here.”
Kylington, who has missed several weeks because of injury, will return to the Avs’ lineup tonight for the first time since Nov. 27. He has a goal and an assist in eight games this season.
He said that it’s been an adjustment to step into a new organization after seven years with the Flames.
“It’s been different,” he said. “I’ve had injuries, so maybe [it] hasn’t been the start I was hoping for, but I just want to finish it off now good. I’m feeling good, so I’m excited to get back in.”
Kylington will face a Flames squad looking to put Tuesday night’s 6-3 defeat to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the rear-view mirror. Calgary looked porous defensively and was outchanced 10 to four at five-on-five, according to Natural Stat Trick.
The Flames have been without top-pairing blueliner Kevin Bahl since Jan. 25, which has forced the likes of Tyson Barrie, Jake Bean and Joel Hanley to play more minutes. Bean and Barrie, in particular, have struggled.
Bean will be replaced by Daniil Miromanov on Thursday, who will slot in next to veteran MacKenzie Weegar. Bean will slide to the third pairing alongside Brayden Pachal. The club also recalled Ilya Solovyov from the Wranglers this week.
“We look for [the defencemen] to be harder guys to play against,” head coach Ryan Huska said. “We want them to make simple, quick plays with the puck. I think that allows our forwards to do what they do best and try to get in on the forecheck. Collectively as a group, just make sure they’re committed to the hard parts of the game and…get that puck moving quickly.”
Flames forward Jonathan Huberdeau had strong praise for one of the Avs’ stars he’ll be tasked with shutting down.
“[Nathan] MacKinnon probably, in my mind, he’s the best player in the league,” he said. “Obviously, you don’t want to give them a lot of room. That’s your game plan. They have a lot of weapons over there, a lot of guys that can do something, so we have to be prepared to roll four lines and all be ready to go.”
Miromanov, who’s been in and out of the lineup all season, said taking time and space away from MacKinnon and his teammates will be key.
“If we play to our system, play to our strengths, the chances are going to come,” he said. “You don’t need to force them. The offence is going to be there…just try and do a good job sticking very tight being on top of them. [They’re] very good players. Very fast. They’re explosive players with their speed. You’ve got to play as tight as you can and don’t give them time.”
Flames projected lineup
Huberdeau-Kadri-Farabee
Coleman-Backlund-Coronato
Sharangovich-Frost-Pospisil
Lomberg-Rooney-Klapka
Hanley-Andersson
Weegar-Miromanov
Bean-Pachal
Wolf