FlamesNation player evaluation: Oliver Kylington

I still believe in Oliver Kylington. Maybe it’s just the part of me that loves smooth skating Swedish defensemen but I think there’s still a lot yet to be written in the Book of Kylington.

He’s put up some respectable AHL numbers over parts of five seasons with the Heat and we’ve seen flashes of his strong puck-moving and dynamic skating with the big club over the last two campaigns.

Kylington ate up most of his minutes paired alongside Rasmus Andersson. After Andersson graduated to the second pairing permanently Kylington spent some time alongside Michael Stone.

He seemed to fall out of favour with the coaching staff early in the year when he was sent down in November. Sure, sending him to AHL Stockton was probably a calculus of contract implications and overall play, but the favouring of Michael Stone and Brandon Davidson seemed somewhat puzzling.

He put in a few games with Stockton (flexing his offensive muscles by picking up a hat trick) and was back up in a flash.

Now, there’s a lot to be intrigued about but this season Kylington spent most of his minutes heavily sheltered on the third pair and his numbers were nothing to write home about.

With injuries on the blueline, the acquisitions of Derek Forbort and Erik Gustafsson on deadline day further cemented the notion that the organization did not feel comfortable utilizing Kylington in an expanded role.

I think he probably gets a little too much flack for his defensive game. Certainly, he struggled in his sheltered role this year without Andersson but I don’t think his defensive play was as hellish as it was made out to be.

Obviously Kylington played much more sheltered minutes than the likes of Hanifin and Hamonic but his expected goal and scoring chance against rates were both favourable in comparison to most everyone outside the top four.

Taking a look at his isolated impact, in terms of unblocked shot rates, his defensive impact grades out better than Noah Hanifin. All to say while his defensive game gets lambasted quite frequently Kylington is by no means a pylon in his own end.

One aspect of his play that stood out positively over his 48 games this year was his work in transition. As per Corey Sznajder’s microstat data Kylington stood out in both zone entries and zone exits this season.

For all the knocks on his 200-foot game his lack of impact on the Flames 5v5 offense is what stood out negatively this year from my perspective. Some of that can certainly be attributed to his dismal shooting percentage this year (5.4%) and utilization. But for a guy with that skill set, you’d like to see him generating more quality offense at even strength.

This is where there is a bit of a letdown: progress. Compared to his notable cohort, Rasmus Andersson, Kylington did not move up and along a similar trajectory.  Andersson continued to improve, specifically in the defensive zone, and earned a shiny new contract and has proven himself as a key piece of the Flames defense. Not that Kylington should be judged in reference to Andersson but it is a natural comparison given their age and usage.

One guy made a leap into the top four while the other struggled to gain traction. Some of his underlying numbers improved while some dipped but nothing jumped off the page from one year to the next.

Now an RFA, Kylington will need a new deal. I’m sure it will happen and it will be on the cost-effective side. There are some looming questions, however. Most specifically those of his future with the franchise: will he be fodder for the expansion draft at the conclusion of the season? I mean, he’s going to be available. Depending on who’s still around you can pencil in that the Flames will be protecting three of Andersson, Giordano, Hanifin and Brodie (or his replacement). The other question is will he even still be on the team by that time or will he be used as a trade chip? Both of those questions have been floating around for a while.

Next year if he can be relied upon to eat up 13 to 15 minutes a night and utilize his speed and shot to create more offense then the Flames have a cost-controlled, dynamic young player, to lead the third pair.

He’s shown he can play effective minutes with Rasmus Andersson. He’s also shared with Ryan Pike that he is very comfortable on the right side. Skill, puck-moving, versatility, offensive potential?  Those check a lot of boxes for a defender I’d want in my lineup (especially in the cap flat world of 2020).

Hopefully, Kylington makes the decision of retaining him, trading him or losing him in expansion a tough call because he still has the tools to be an impactful player.

Mark Giordano | Sean Monahan | Sam Bennett | Johnny Gaudreau | Elias Lindholm | Dillon Dube | Milan Lucic | Rasmus Andersson | Andrew Mangiapane | Cam Talbot | David Rittich | Noah Hanifin | Matthew Tkachuk | Derek Ryan | Travis Hamonic | Tobias Rieder | TJ Brodie | Zac Rinaldo