Quote:
Originally Posted by Sylvanfan
Put it this way...if Erik Gustafsson had got a two year deal for this money played 33 games and put up 6 points, how would fans view the result of that contract.
Yeah I had some higher hopes that Kylington could become a good complement number 4 type and it didn't work out. I'll bitch about the misfortune of the situation because I don't think Treliving or the player did anything wrong. Just how it worked out.
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This is an accurate take. The white knights who jump in to blow the Kylington trumpet here is unlike I've ever seen with any other player. It's not like he was the second coming of Nik Lidstrom.
I get it why people who have suffered mental health issues, or know people who have, quickly rush to defend Kylington. But the details as they've been shared are murky at best, and disappointing at worst. If he was a dumpy dude who looked like Phil Kessel but played like David Hale, I don't think he'd get the overrated love that he gets. Letting him walk was fine. Wringing our hands over losing such an oddly beloved player, makes little sense.
Eating the $2.5 AAV for two seasons while we were pressed against the cap DID hurt the team. That's a fact. We finished 2 points short of the playoffs in 2022-23, and didn't have space to add at the deadline. Part of that constraint was caused by the Flames NOT putting OK on the LTIR.
As last season dwindled down, Kylington paid lip service to his loyalty to the team, which turned out to be a mirage. His actions spoke clearly better than his carefully selected words.