Calgary Flames defenseman Oliver Kylington will play in his first National Hockey League game since May 2022 when the Flames take on the Columbus Blue Jackets at Scotiabank Saddledome on Thursday night.
Kylington, 26, skated on the Flames’ third pairing alongside Jordan Oesterle at morning skate on Thursday. The Flames will need to activate Kylington off long-term injured reserve before he can officially return to the lineup.
It’s been a long road to this point for Kylington, who missed all of the 2022–23 season and the first half of 2023–24 while dealing with mental health issues. He resumed skating last fall and embarked upon a conditioning stint with the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers earlier this month, suiting up for two games.
Kylington last played in a game with the Flames on May 26, 2022, when the team was eliminated from the second round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs by the Edmonton Oilers.
The Flames originally selected Kylington in the second round (No. 60 overall) of the 2015 NHL Draft, trading two third-round picks to the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for the penultimate pick in the second round.
Kylington immediately came over to North America to play in the Flames organization, debuting with the AHL’s Stockton Heat in 2015-16 and appearing in his first NHL game at age 18 later that season.
After two full seasons in the AHL, Kylington split the 2018-19 campaign between Stockton and Calgary and appeared in just three more AHL games from there until his conditioning stint with the Wranglers.
Kylington firmly established himself as an NHL regular in the 2021-22 season, collecting nine goals and 31 points in 73 games with the Pacific Division champions and spending most of his time on a pairing with Chris Tanev. The smooth-skating Swede also appeared in his first 12 NHL playoff games that year, racking up three points.
Through 168 career NHL games over parts of five seasons with the Flames, Kylington has amassed 14 goals and 47 points. He’s under contract through the end of this current season at a $2.5 million cap hit.
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