[News] Kylington opens up about battle with mental illness, shares excitement for return

[gvitaly]

Originally Posted by Hackey

Phaneuf, Regehr, Jbo, didn't play out as we all hoped.

That core also had Giordano and Sarich.

Another was:

Gio, Brodie, Hamilton, Hamonic, Stone, Kulak. They were supposed to be pretty good as well.

[boogerz]

Originally Posted by Hackey

Phaneuf, Regehr, Jbo, didn't play out as we all hoped.

Originally Posted by gvitaly

That core also had Giordano and Sarich.

Another was:

Gio, Brodie, Hamilton, Hamonic, Stone, Kulak. They were supposed to be pretty good as well.

Two excellent defensive cores wasted by awful coaching from B. Sutter and GG.

However, I'm still optimistic about the current group because we saw glimpses of them in action and they weren't awful playing a system that they weren't suited for (Sutter's man-to-man style).


Hopefully Huska is the right coach and gets them to play up to expectations.

[dammage79]

Originally Posted by gvitaly

That core also had Giordano and Sarich.

Another was:

Gio, Brodie, Hamilton, Hamonic, Stone, Kulak. They were supposed to be pretty good as well.

Hamonic was pure poo. Hamilton was great offensively. The only thing great about the 2nd d corps you listed was the Brodano pairing that literally carried the water for the entire duration of their pairing.

[jaikorven]

When we got Harmonic though, it was thought (on paper) that it was going to be elite. No one knew he would be that bad.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by Hackey

Phaneuf, Regehr, Jbo, didn't play out as we all hoped.

Going into that season, I thought we might end up with half of Team Canada's starting D on our team. That one sucked.

[TheIronMaiden]

Originally Posted by jaikorven

When we got Harmonic though, it was thought (on paper) that it was going to be elite. No one knew he would be that bad.

In all fairness, Hamonic was a great player at 3.5 Million or whatever he was making, but he was 100% not worth a 1st and two 2nds.

I think a large reason he was so expensive was:
1. Because he had term on a cheap contract.
2. There were a few teams in the mix driving the price up


All the same, It was the worst trade BT made.

[jayswin]

But that was the baffling part - Hamonic had made it known prior to the trade that he wanted to be traded to western Canada only, and yet Brad tossed down an offer on a solid top 4 D man that made you think he was battling the entire NHL for a star player.

[TheIronMaiden]

Originally Posted by jayswin

But that was the baffling part - Hamonic had made it known prior to the trade that he wanted to be traded to western Canada only, and yet Brad tossed down an offer on a solid top 4 D man that made you think he was battling the entire NHL for a star player.

IIRC Winnipeg and Edmonton were in the mix, which would be enough to drive up the price.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

IIRC Winnipeg and Edmonton were in the mix, which would be enough to drive up the price.

In hindsight, it would have been better to let one of those teams land him.

Even at the time, when I saw the terms of the deal, the first thought that popped into my head was an old, old expression that Benjamin Franklin used to use:

‘He gave too much for his whistle.’

As a kid, Franklin really wanted a tin whistle that he saw in a store. So he saved up all his pennies, took them to the store, piled them on the counter and took the whistle without even asking the price. Of course he paid far too much for it.

Hamonic was Treliving's tin whistle.

[TheIronMaiden]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

In hindsight, it would have been better to let one of those teams land him.

Even at the time, when I saw the terms of the deal, the first thought that popped into my head was an old, old expression that Benjamin Franklin used to use:

‘He gave too much for his whistle.’

As a kid, Franklin really wanted a tin whistle that he saw in a store. So he saved up all his pennies, took them to the store, piled them on the counter and took the whistle without even asking the price. Of course he paid far too much for it.

Hamonic was Treliving's tin whistle.

As they say, a fool and his first round pick are easily parted.

[CroFlames]

This is great news if he's feeling good again and dealt with the issues he had. Flames handled the situation in a classy way, and credit goes to Brad and Conny. I've been a huge fan of this player since he was touted as a first rounder and fell to us in the 2nd.

What a mature young man he really is to be able to take a step back and recognize he needed some help and a reset. Didn't know I could be a bigger fan of him, yet here we are. Huge respect.

Now that it's behind us, it is completely fair to start talking about potential performance this season after missing a whole year. I'm cautiously optimistic, but we shouldn't be surprised if it takes him a few weeks or months to really come into his own again.

[minnow]

Lots of eyes on him this year. Hope it's stellar.

[VilleN]

I wonder if the reason he slid a lot in his draft year was potentially because of these issues in his personal life… if he’s on the road to sorting these problems out we could see the best Kylly yet.

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by VilleN

I wonder if the reason he slid a lot in his draft year was potentially because of these issues in his personal life… if he’s on the road to sorting these problems out we could see the best Kylly yet.

I thought it was because his defense left a lot to be desired as he was an offensive defenseman.

[dustygoon]

I went back and looked at his draft rankings before the 2015 draft and how he fell down the rankings by the time the draft rolled around.

He was listed as #1 on the central scouting international list at one time.

Who knows how long he has been dealing with this and now....what a more healthy mindset could do for him. OK has it in him to be a force. The range of outcomes for this season is huge.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by dustygoon

I went back and looked at his draft rankings before the 2015 draft and how he fell down the rankings by the time the draft rolled around.

He was listed as #1 on the central scouting international list at one time.

Who knows how long he has been dealing with this and now....what a more healthy mindset could do for him. OK has it in him to be a force. The range of outcomes for this season is huge.

I think his fall in the draft had more to do with a physical injury opposed to mental health struggles.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by VilleN

I wonder if the reason he slid a lot in his draft year was potentially because of these issues in his personal life… if he’s on the road to sorting these problems out we could see the best Kylly yet.

I remember in 2014, some people had him as a potential top 5 pick for the following draft. Leading up to the 2015 draft, some rankings had him going in the 10-15 range.

If you believe Hakan Loob, who was very high on Kylington's potential, he felt that Kylington's Swedish team was not developing him properly and that the Flames needed to bring him over to North America ASAP to take control of his development. The Flames followed that advice and convinced his Swedish club to release him.

He mentioned how his Swedish club's motivation was not to develop players, but to win games. He was technically good enough to play at the highest level, but not enough to be a difference maker at his age (few players are), so they demoted him to help the lower tier team win more games. This wasn't helping him grow and improve, and caused some friction between Kylington and his club.

[CliffFletcher]

Kylington did not progress as expected in the year leading up his draft. His defensive game still had huge holes and he bounced around a lot between teams. It happens, and there’s no reason to believe it was related to his mental health. A comparable would be Brad Lambert, who was being projected as a top 3 draft prospect a year out from his draft but wound up going 30th.

[Bill Bumface]

The thing I'm looking forward to, no matter how his season goes, is some entertainment. The Flames were incredibly boring last year. The year before, when Kylington was on the ice, it was an adventure. And I don't mean that in a bad way necessarily, I think in general both teams ended up with more chances when he was on the ice (but definitely a net positive for the Flames). When he gets flying around out there, or chasing guys down from behind, it's way more exciting than what we suffered through last season.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

I remember in 2014, some people had him as a potential top 5 pick for the following draft. Leading up to the 2015 draft, some rankings had him going in the 10-15 range.

If you believe Hakan Loob, who was very high on Kylington's potential, he felt that Kylington's Swedish team was not developing him properly and that the Flames needed to bring him over to North America ASAP to take control of his development. The Flames followed that advice and convinced his Swedish club to release him.

He mentioned how his Swedish club's motivation was not to develop players, but to win games. He was technically good enough to play at the highest level, but not enough to be a difference maker at his age (few players are), so they demoted him to help the lower tier team win more games. This wasn't helping him grow and improve, and caused some friction between Kylington and his club.

This is correct: top 5, early in the pre-draft year, then a difficult season had him slip a bit, and people were speculating that he would go 10-15.