Oliver Kylington

[Gord_Wappel]

I see his name thrown around alot in trade rumors but wondering what everyone thinks about his upside? Personally i like him alot. Hi is an elite skater seems to have great offensive instincts and actually has shown some bite to his game at times which probably surprised me more than anything else.

I like Ras too and he obviously has other elements to his game size, right handed shot which fills a roster weakness. All that being said, i have been more impressed with Kylington the last several games. It seems like as he has gained confidence his game has really improved and he is making smart plays and showing good awareness. Is he still prone to some mistakes?? Absolutely. But with the game getting faster and his skating i see him as a possible TJ Brodie replacement in a few years. I am not saying this season or next by any stretch but i see that sort of potential.

Am i only one??

[Captaincanada80]

I like him a lot, however he falls 4th on the Expansion draft protection list leaving him a lame duck to be claimed. Losing him for nothing. Treliving did the best of 30 GM’s the first time around. I expect much of the same on the 2nd go around.

1. Hanafin
2. Valamaki
3. Andersson
4. Killington

If you can include him in a bigger deal (Stone) you do it.

[CanadaMatt]

Originally Posted by Gord_Wappel

I see his name thrown around alot in trade rumors but wondering what everyone thinks about his upside? Personally i like him alot. Hi is an elite skater seems to have great offensive instincts and actually has shown some bite to his game at times which probably surprised me more than anything else.

I like Ras too and he obviously has other elements to his game size, right handed shot which fills a roster weakness. All that being said, i have been more impressed with Kylington the last several games. It seems like as he has gained confidence his game has really improved and he is making smart plays and showing good awareness. Is he still prone to some mistakes?? Absolutely. But with the game getting faster and his skating i see him as a possible TJ Brodie replacement in a few years. I am not saying this season or next by any stretch but i see that sort of potential.

Am i only one??

I like this guy a lot, have him higher on my list than both Valimaki and Andersson. Not sure why Peters sits him so much in the 3rd, he’s got amazing speed and is solid in his own end.

[TheScorpion]

Personally, if the Flames are trading a prospect, I'd much rather they deal Dubé. He's never impressed me and I'm not convinced he'll be much more than Mangiapane 2.0. But he has value right now.

Of course, I'd love them to keep him and for him to prove me wrong. Just don't see it, personally.

[oldschoolcalgary]

Kylington has a ton of potential...i would love to see him become part of the new core dmen moving forward.

the speculation is just fans having fun...there's nothing to suggest that BT is considering doing anything thing with him.

the expansion draft however is a real thing...Calgary's success of late developing dmen also exposes them to the rules of the expansion draft.

every team is going to lose one player, just a matter of trying to figure out who do you expose when you can only protect 3 or 4 dmen depending on what approach you choose (8 skaters or 7 fwds + 3 dmen)

[Reggie Dunlop]

Elite skills and suspect hockey sense was always the rap. Seems to have won over critics with the latter.

All teams will lose a serviceable player in an expansion draft. Lots can happen in the meantime.

[flamesforcup]

If Kylington had a better shot i think he would already have cemented himself as a top 4 dman. He kind of reminds me of Ghostesbhere without the lethal shot. I think he has looked good for his rookie year and if he gets comfortable u never know he could get to Brodies level.

[GranteedEV]

He kinda reminds me of guys like Roman Josi and Kris Letang, though I think he's an even better skater than they are. I don't see why that can't be his upside either - if we give him a fair opportunity going forward. Also don't think he is a right D, all his instincts are purely developed for playing on the left side. I'm intrigued to see what he can do with Mike Stone as his partner.



I especially love how willing he is to jump right into the middle of the ice, it's hard to believe he's a Dman with 3 goals in 28 games and I think he's been unlucky not to score more. Also think his passing is excellent. Deft touch, and great vision.



I think at this point him and Valimaki and Hanifin are all so young there's no telling which one hits his upside or exactly what that upside is. Dmen don't hit their prime until 26, 27 years old.

[Gaskal]

Erik Karlsson 2.0.

[activeStick]

The Flames are in the envious position of having more solid defensive prospects than they can likely keep.

Kylington will be a good one, number 3 or 4 guy in my opinion, and a fixture on the top PP unit.

[Madrox]

I’m surprised that everyone seems so positive on him so far. I think he definitely could turn out to be something, but Valimaki was way more ready to play in the NHL than Kylington. He’s got a lot of talent, but he still makes bad decisions where he thinks he has more time than he does, and I don’t have much confidence in him in his own end. I like him, but he’s not ready yet, and I think his top end is something like a relatively one dimensional number 3.

[Sandman]

I was never a fan of his before this year, thought he would never learn to play a 200 foot game, so since he came up to the big club I've been watching to see what mistakes he would make and when he got sent back down. I think the time he's spent in the minors has really trained him well-he still makes a horrible pass once in a while (which can be expected for a player his age) but overall, he's been really impressive in both sides of the rink. Very very pleasant surprise for me. I think that in a few years, he could replace Brodie in the top-4.

[ramil600]

I think he has tons of raw skills, speed and puck driving, but he is still lagging at the defensive coverage and judgement; plays too risky sometimes, creating turnovers. Given that Flames now have the great defensemen pipeline and are currently in the win-now mode, them using Kylington as a blue chip prospect trade-bait seems quite reasonable to me.

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by Captaincanada80

I like him a lot, however he falls 4th on the Expansion draft protection list leaving him a lame duck to be claimed. Losing him for nothing. Treliving did the best of 30 GM’s the first time around. I expect much of the same on the 2nd go around.

1. Hanafin
2. Valamaki
3. Andersson
4. Killington

If you can include him in a bigger deal (Stone) you do it.

1 out of 4 ain't bad

[Calgary4LIfe]

I rank Kylington ahead of Andersson right now.


Hanifin
Valimaki
Kylington
Andersson


However, making any moves with these kids right now with the idea of the expansion draft is way too premature. Kylington might absolutely kill it next season, and we will all be in agreement that his spot is ahead of Valimaki and Hanifin.


Heck, I will not argue with _________ might be the best young defencemen on the team, even better than _________.



In 3 years, my money will be:
Hanifin/Valimaki
Kylington
Andersson


Kylington has the highest offensive potential, Valimaki has the highest overall potential (including physical play) with Hanifin having the pedigree and a few more years of NHL seasoning to help maintain his lead on Valimaki (and is also a better skater). Should be interesting to see how everyone develops in time, but it sure seems like the Flames are set on D for quite some time.


As for the expansion draft, well, you can't trade a good player away unless you had only one good player left before a bunch of 'meh'. They will just pick the next good player. Other teams also have good players and would need to use a protection spot on the player you just traded them, so they will also factor in how good their player who is now going to be picked is in any valuation.


You can't send your player away for peanuts because "better lose him for at least something rather than nothing" because Seattle is just going to pick your next best player, and that's valuable too. Now you lost TWO very important depth pieces for peanuts, and that hurts you more than losing one good piece for nothing.



I want the Flames to be so good and so deep that Seattle's management is going to have fist-fights with one another arguing who they should pick from Calgary. Will suck to lose whomever it is, but everyone except the Oilers will lose a good piece.

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

I rank Kylington ahead of Andersson right now.


Hanifin
Valimaki
Kylington
Andersson


However, making any moves with these kids right now with the idea of the expansion draft is way too premature. Kylington might absolutely kill it next season, and we will all be in agreement that his spot is ahead of Valimaki and Hanifin.


Heck, I will not argue with _________ might be the best young defencemen on the team, even better than _________.



In 3 years, my money will be:
Hanifin/Valimaki
Kylington
Andersson


Kylington has the highest offensive potential, Valimaki has the highest overall potential (including physical play) with Hanifin having the pedigree and a few more years of NHL seasoning to help maintain his lead on Valimaki (and is also a better skater). Should be interesting to see how everyone develops in time, but it sure seems like the Flames are set on D for quite some time.


As for the expansion draft, well, you can't trade a good player away unless you had only one good player left before a bunch of 'meh'. They will just pick the next good player. Other teams also have good players and would need to use a protection spot on the player you just traded them, so they will also factor in how good their player who is now going to be picked is in any valuation.


You can't send your player away for peanuts because "better lose him for at least something rather than nothing" because Seattle is just going to pick your next best player, and that's valuable too. Now you lost TWO very important depth pieces for peanuts, and that hurts you more than losing one good piece for nothing.



I want the Flames to be so good and so deep that Seattle's management is going to have fist-fights with one another arguing who they should pick from Calgary. Will suck to lose whomever it is, but everyone except the Oilers will lose a good piece.

I have Kylington/Andersson neck and neck, game per game I think one stands out more. As for the expansion draft, by then I think we could expose Gio(doubt he would be picked at 37) and protect Hanifin, Anderson and Kylington with Valimaki exempt.

Fortunately we don't have 3 NMC's with bums like the Oilers

[TheSquatch]

How spoiled are the Flames to have a bunch of really good looking D prospects?

I was listening to the 960 guys chatting about potential moves, and kind of tossing Kylington's name around as a piece in a trade, and I thought "Oh my God, let's hope not."

And the reason it bugs me so much is that yeah, this year we have lots of depth on left d. and maybe next year. But eventually Gio is going to need less ice, or eventually he gets traded, or injured or something.... he isn't here and he isn't dominant for ever and ever.

So to me, these young core-type pieces should not be shuffled out in any kind of "all in" deal to get a top-six winger or whatever. You don't build a long-term winner that way. I can see making a deal with a lesser prospect and even picks at this point (because guys like Andersson and Kylington and Valimaki are worth more than picks) to add the right components at the deadline (and again, this only works for me because Flames have good young prospects and a young core, the window to win is opening, by the time next year's draft picks are playing regular, that window may be closing).

"Untouchable"? No, obviously not. But I think all three of these young defenders need to be kept under most circumstances.

[SeanCharles]

^ Valimaki will not be exempt from expansion

Back to Kylington..I really like him and think he has the most offensive potential out of all the rookie dmen.

I defiantly think he has the potential of Brodie in that he can be a higher end fleet footed offensive defenceman. I think he could have more offensive potential really because he can shoot the puck better than Brodie.

I want the Flames to keep all 3 of the rookie D and would be extremely disappointed if any were traded.

Most anything else in the cupboards would be on the table for Stone but those 3 should be here to stay.

Worry about expansion when the time comes.

[dissentowner]

Expansion is such a bunch of crap. I get the owners get to line their pockets from expansion teams but it pisses me off a new team gets to just vulture good players and immediately be competitive. I think the amount of players you can protect is too low.

[Rick M.]

Originally Posted by SeanCharles

^ Valimaki will not be exempt from expansion

Back to Kylington..I really like him and think he has the most offensive potential out of all the rookie dmen.

I defiantly think he has the potential of Brodie in that he can be a higher end fleet footed offensive defenceman. I think he could have more offensive potential really because he can shoot the puck better than Brodie.

I want the Flames to keep all 3 of the rookie D and would be extremely disappointed if any were traded.

Most anything else in the cupboards would be on the table for Stone but those 3 should be here to stay.

Worry about expansion when the time comes.

I agree. You can always give a high pick to an expansion team to avoid them taking players you want to keep.