Former Calgary Flames defenceman Oliver Kylington hasn’t started off his tenure with the Colorado Avalanche the way he was hoping.
The 27-year-old had the option to return to the Flames for the 2024-25 season and perhaps beyond but instead elected to hit free agency to see what was out there. As it turned out, however, there weren’t a ton of teams with interest, and he wound up settling for a one-year, $1.05 million deal signed in early August.
There was hope that playing on a fast, offensive-first team like the Avalanche would benefit Kylington, but that hasn’t been the case. He’s struggled to get into the lineup, and last night, due in large part to several injuries, he was forced to play forward for the first time in his NHL career.
“I played centre and forward, mostly centre, but it was a long time ago. Almost 10 years ago,” Kylington said before the game. “I’m looking forward to it, got excited a little bit hearing about it yesterday. I think I’m just going to go out there and trust my instincts.”
Kylington ended up playing left wing on a line with Parker Kelly and Nikolai Kovalenko in a game where the Flames lost 5-2. It didn’t go as he would have liked, as he finished with a plus/minus of -2 in just 5:31 of ice time.
Last night marked just the third game Kylington has played this season, having already sat as a healthy scratch for eight. We’ll see whether or not head coach Jared Bednar gives him another look up front, as the Avs are currently without Artturi Lehkonen, Miles Wood, Ross Colton, Jonathan Drouin, and Valeri Nichushkin.
Prior to this season, Kylington had spent his entire 201-game career with the Flames. After a breakout 2021-22 campaign, he missed the next year and a half due to mental health issues. He wound up appearing in 33 games to close out 2023-24, where he had three goals and eight points.
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