The Colorado Avalanche have signed former Calgary Flames defenceman Oliver Kylington to a one-year contract, the club announced Monday.
His deal, according to PuckPedia, will pay him $1.05-million, all in salary.
https://twtter.com/PuckPedia/status/1820553091776917663
Kylington, 27, was drafted by the Flames in the 2nd round of the 2015 draft, appearing in 201 NHL games over the last number of years. He drew in for 33 last season for them, scoring three goals and eight points, after missing the entirety of the 2022-23 season. Mental health issues kept him out of the lineup, as he stayed home in Sweden, before re-joining the organization last January.
Here’s more on the defenceman from Daily Faceoff’s Tyler Kuehl:
Kylington’s story led to him being named a finalist for the Bill Masterton Trophy. The award ended up going to Utah Hockey Club goaltender Connor Ingram.What Kylington will bring to the Avalanche is a solid and, for the most part, dependable two-way role on the back end. He has shown strong sense around the puck, and can be a useful depth piece for Colorado.
Daily Faceoff’s early projection for the Canadian World Junior team
It may be the middle of summer, but that doesn’t stop Daily Faceoff prospect guru Steven Ellis from breaking down the game’s top prospects.
And many of them will be seen at this winters World Juniors taking place in Ottawa.
On Monday, Ellis dove into his projected roster, and spoke a bit about what it looks like. Here’s the roster, and what he had to say:
Forwards
Bradly Nadeau (CAR) – Brayden Yager (PIT) – Riley Heidt (MIN)
Tij Iginla (UTH) – Cal Ritchie (COL) – Beckett Sennecke (ANA)
Easton Cowan (TOR) – Berkly Catton (SEA) – Gavin McKenna (2026)
Carson Rehkopf (SEA) – Denver Barkey (PHI) – Porter Martone (2025)
Matthew Wood (NSH)Defensemen
Sam Dickinson (SJS) – Oliver Bonk (PHI)
Tanner Molendyk (NSH) – Zayne Parekh (CGY)
Étienne Morin (CGY) – Andrew Gibson (NSH)
Carter Yakemchuk (OTT)Goaltenders
Carson Bjarnason (PHI)
Scott Ratzlaff (BUF)Notable Cuts: Colby Barlow, Ethan Gauthier, Cayden Lindstrom, Jett Luchanko, Noah Chadwick, Andrew Cristall
Canada just completed their week-long World Junior Summer Showcase, starting at home in Windsor before finishing off with two games in Plymouth. They lost to Sweden in a game the Canadians dominated puck control, but got beat thanks to the great goaltending of Melker Thelin. Canada then avoided a late-game collapse against Finland to win 8-6 before losing in the shootout to the Americans on Saturday to close things off.What can you take out of a tournament like that? Not much. It’s fun for the summer and it’s a chance for the coaching staff to see where the players are at this point, but they’re not making any decisions based off games in August and there’s still plenty of hockey to be played between now and December 26.Still, the Canadians are looking to bounce back after a brutal quarterfinal loss to Czechia in Sweden last year. It ended a two-year gold medal streak, so you have to imagine they’re going to go all out to win in the nation’s capital – especially in an effort to beat their biggest rivals and defending champions, the United States.The Canadians have the chance to bring back seven players from the 2024 team that fell in the quarterfinals – Macklin Celebrini, Matthew Wood, Brayden Yager, Carson Rehkopf, Easton Cowan, Oliver Bonk and third-string goaltender Scott Ratzlaff. I expect six of them to be back, with Celebrini set to take center stage with the San Jose Sharks this year.
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.
