[Signing] Flames sign Kylington to ELC

[sureLoss]

Wheatkings traded Bukarts to Portland today, opening an import spot on their roster.

Some speculation that spot is for Kylington.

[codynw]

Has he been struggling in the AHL?

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by codynw

Has he been struggling in the AHL?

Here's what PMM said:

THE MEH

Oliver Kylington

Everyone’s been curious about how the 18 year old has fared so far. I hate to be the bearer of obvious news, but he looks like an 18 year old in a men’s league.

He has a lot of rough patches in his game and they’re almost exclusively situated in his own zone. It’s unfortunate because Kylington has shown flashes of brilliance and creativity when his team’s on the attack, that is, if he can get into the other team’s zone to work his magic. He tends to spend far too much time defending, which is why Huska deploys him in the offensive zone quite a bit.

It hasn’t been pretty for Kylington, but he’s obviously going to get a longer leash than most because of his ceiling and age. Let’s talk about him in December/January when we have a greater sample size. In my experience rookie defenders tend to “get it” around that time.

http://flamesnation.ca/2015/10/26/th...ns-on-stockton

[Gaskal]

Originally Posted by codynw

Has he been struggling in the AHL?

Defensively yes. Flashes of offensive prowess now and then but really needs to learn the game defensively.

[genetic_phreek]

Sending him to the WHL will not improve his defensive game. Most kids come out of Junior needing to improve that part of their game.

[Bandwagon In Flames]

I think the ECHL might be a better option, no?

Did wonders for Kulak entering his first year as pro.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by genetic_phreek

Sending him to the WHL will not improve his defensive game. Most kids come out of Junior needing to improve that part of their game.

Exactly.

And while I respect PMM's opinion, I don't entirely agree with it here.

I think Kyllington has held his own so far in the AHL. Has he had some issues defensively? Of course - who wouldn't have predicted that. But it has been 4 games. And he has not looked out of place IMO.

If he is struggling after 20 games or so, then sure, send him down.

But at this point I don't see the need.

[mdubz]

Originally Posted by Gaskal

Defensively yes. Flashes of offensive prowess now and then but really needs to learn the game defensively.

So he's as good as Justin Schultz right now?

[Caged Great]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Exactly.

And while I respect PMM's opinion, I don't entirely agree with it here.

I think Kyllington has held his own so far in the AHL. Has he had some issues defensively? Of course - who wouldn't have predicted that. But it has been 4 games. And he has not looked out of place IMO.

If he is struggling after 20 games or so, then sure, send him down.

But at this point I don't see the need.

I agree with you as well. In the games he played, he hasn't been horrid defensively (mind you I did not watch the last one yet). There have been errors, but no more than a guy like Stevenson. He hasn't looked that much worse than any of the other D in Stockton defensively.

I also agree that if he's struggling at the end of December and is so bad that you need to get him off the team, then that's fine send him to the WHL, but he shouldn't be ditched now. Too early.

[sureLoss]

FWIW

Perry Bergson @PerryBergson
Incidentally, Kelly McCrimmon told me this afternoon that he has had no contact with the Calgary Flames about import D Oliver Kylington #BWK

[sureLoss]

Dean Molberg @fan960boomer
Re: Kylington to Brandon rumor/report...told no change in plans at this point. Flames want to see him play more AHL games (only 4 this far)

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Exactly.

And while I respect PMM's opinion, I don't entirely agree with it here.

I think Kyllington has held his own so far in the AHL. Has he had some issues defensively? Of course - who wouldn't have predicted that. But it has been 4 games. And he has not looked out of place IMO.

If he is struggling after 20 games or so, then sure, send him down.

But at this point I don't see the need.

The two biggest problems for Kylington to me are his strength and his decision making.

His strength because he gets clobbered in puck battles. He doesn't win a whole lot of battles in the corner or in front of his net and that's a concern.

His decision making has looked rough in two zones as well. In his own zone if he's actually able to get a hold of the puck, he doesn't make the proper read a lot of the time. When he decides not to force the play, he'll rush it up the ice using his great skating ability only to have it taken away and then it's an odd man rush.

Yes, it's only four games in, but when you have the opportunity to have a top prospect work with a revered coach like Kelly McCrimmon, you've got to take it. Plus, playing on perhaps the strongest team in the WHL will challenge Kylington to keep up to pace with the rest of his teammates. Iron sharpens iron.

Just my two cents. It's an interesting debate though. I've been in the "Kylington to juniors" camp since the beginning of training camp and he just hasn't shown that he shouldn't be there.

[Matty81]

I don't think it would be terrible but I wouldn't be really excited to see him sent to Brandon either.

Maybe it's changing if Provorov and Pulock pan out but it's not been a very good program for NHL defencemen as long as I can remember under the same regime. Probably missing somebody but the last guy I remember coming out of there who became an NHL regular D man was Wade Redden in the mid 90s (Tollefson is probably the only other guy who even came close in 20 years). Watching Eric Roy there the last few years - and it could have been the player, but his development flatlined at best.

Facilities are not great, they play in a 50+ year old stadium and the players are really under the microscope day to day in the small WHL prairie towns.

That said, great team this year, and they've done a good job producing NHL forwards so maybe it's just been bad luck.

Not that I'm aware of a slam dunk program, but if he has to go down I'd at least rather see him in a bigger centre with better facilities. Kelowna has been the D factory in the WHL for years but has a new coaching staff now and the blueline is much younger and weaker than it has been in years past so I wouldn't advocate for a move here the same way I would have in past years.

Can he go to the ECHL? Makes more sense to me.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by Matty81

I don't think it would be terrible but I wouldn't be really excited to see him sent to Brandon either.

Maybe it's changing if Provorov and Pulock pan out but it's not been a very good program for NHL defencemen as long as I can remember under the same regime. Probably missing somebody but the last guy I remember coming out of there who became an NHL regular D man was Wade Redden in the mid 90s (Tollefson is probably the only other guy who even came close in 20 years). Watching Eric Roy there the last few years - and it could have been the player, but his development flatlined at best.

Facilities are not great, they play in a 50+ year old stadium and the players are really under the microscope day to day in the small WHL prairie towns.

That said, great team this year, and they've done a good job producing NHL forwards so maybe it's just been bad luck.

Not that I'm aware of a slam dunk program, but if he has to go down I'd at least rather see him in a bigger centre with better facilities. Kelowna has been the D factory in the WHL for years but has a new coaching staff now and the blueline is much younger and weaker than it has been in years past so I wouldn't advocate for a move here the same way I would have in past years.

Can he go to the ECHL? Makes more sense to me.

Ryan Huska, the coach of that Kelowna D factory, is our AHL boss. No better place for Kylington than Stockton.

[handgroen]

Originally Posted by Pierre "Monster" McGuire

The two biggest problems for Kylington to me are his strength and his decision making.

His strength because he gets clobbered in puck battles. He doesn't win a whole lot of battles in the corner or in front of his net and that's a concern.

His decision making has looked rough in two zones as well. In his own zone if he's actually able to get a hold of the puck, he doesn't make the proper read a lot of the time. When he decides not to force the play, he'll rush it up the ice using his great skating ability only to have it taken away and then it's an odd man rush.

Yes, it's only four games in, but when you have the opportunity to have a top prospect work with a revered coach like Kelly McCrimmon, you've got to take it. Plus, playing on perhaps the strongest team in the WHL will challenge Kylington to keep up to pace with the rest of his teammates. Iron sharpens iron.

Just my two cents. It's an interesting debate though. I've been in the "Kylington to juniors" camp since the beginning of training camp and he just hasn't shown that he shouldn't be there.

thanked for clarity and perceptiveness but i disagree, strong development coaching in calgary's AHL affiliate should also be able to get through to him. Huska has certainly proven he can teach the CHL defensive game if there's ever a concern

miss your prospect reporting BTW you're a good writer.

[Calgary4LIfe]

I think what is most important for Kylington's development is playing time.

If it is true that he is primarily being used in offensive zone starts and sheltered that way, I would think then that his development is perhaps not going well at the AHL level, and that he should end up moving to the ECHL or the WHL. With that being said, it has only been 4 games. Let's wait until around the 20 game mark I would say and see how much time he is getting and in what situations. I imagine Huska has to work him in really slowly and carefully.

The nice thing about going to Brandon is that he gets to play with a guy who is a bit more rounded in Provorov (I think he would play with him anyways), and would get absolutely loads of ice-time and in all situations. ECHL I would hope he gets put into all situations as well and with loads of ice-time.

Let's see how he is doing at the 10 game mark at least and see how it looks at the 20 game mark. I would personally think the first 10 games or so would be almost irrelevant in a way, as he is still transitioning to NA ice, playing far from home in a new country, new teammates, new systems, different type of game, etc., not to mention he didn't get that much ice-time in the last couple of years or any stability.

You have to work him in slowly and see how he is responding. I think between the 10 and 20 game mark you can more accurately gauge where he is relative to the other prospects, and where he would ideally develop. A bit of a guessing game at the moment I would say - even by the organization at this point.

[sureLoss]

Wes Gilbertson @SUNGilbertson
Interesting tidbit on #Flames prospect Oliver Kylington — he's added nearly 10 lb. of muscle to his 6-foot frame in first season in AHL

[ricardodw]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Wes Gilbertson @SUNGilbertson
Interesting tidbit on #Flames prospect Oliver Kylington — he's added nearly 10 lb. of muscle to his 6-foot frame in first season in AHL

Would be nice to have some sort of accurate measurement standards published.

How much weight do players usually put on from 18-21?

Adding 10 pounds during the season seems to be quite a feat.

Morrissey of the Rockets ( a similar sized player to Kylington) said that he added 10 lbs and found he was no longer as quick on the ice.

[Bandwagon In Flames]

Great to hear. I'm assuming this is a combination of the slow schedule for Stockton to start the year, and having one of if not the best training facility in the AHL.

Good to see Kylington is putting in the work and more importantly it sounds like he's slowly winning over PMM.

[Monahan For Mayor]

You don't add 10 pounds of muscle that fast without some extreme work ethic. Attitude issues... Pfft.