And just like that, the Colorado Avalanche suddenly have a very crowded blueline.
On Monday afternoon, the Avalanche announced that they had signed 27 year old defenseman Oliver Kylington to a one-year contract. According to Elliotte Friedman, Kylington’s cap hit will be $1.05 million for next season.
Kylington, who was someone Colorado Hockey Now had mentioned back in June as a player who made sense for the Avalanche, has spent his entire NHL career with the Calgary Flames. He had a career season back in 2021-22 paired next to Chris Tanev, putting up 31 points in 73 games. He did not play a single game the next season, as he stepped away from the game to take care of his mental health. Kylington returned to action for the Flames last season, playing 33 games and picking up 8 points.
Oliver Kylington, signed 1x$1.1M by COL, is a puck-moving offensive defenceman. He was superb next to Tanev in 2021-22, struggled more last season. Interesting upside here. #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/PBlsd8hTCP
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) August 5, 2024
He’s the prototypical Avalanche defenseman, as he’s a fantastic skater who likes to jump into the play. For the folks looking for a more physical defenseman, that’s not who he is, but for just over $1 million, it’s a good gamble to take.
Kylington is the third depth defenseman the Avalanche have signed this summer, as he joins Calvin de Haan and Erik Brannstrom on a crowded blueline. Devon Toews, Cale Makar, Sam Girard, and Josh Manson are all locks to make the defense, and then you have Sam Malinski still hanging around. Malinski just turned 26, and it’s my understanding that he now requires waivers to be sent to the AHL.
That’s eight defensemen that could easily play NHL minutes this season, but Colorado hasn’t carried eight defensemen in the past and probably won’t have the cap space to do so this year. All three of Kylington, de Haan, and Brannstrom make so little that they could be buried in the AHL and not have their cap hits count against the salary cap, assuming they make it through waivers.
Who will be the odd man out? Will anyone be moved before camp, or will Colorado just let these guys fight it out to earn a spot? There’s also always the chance that there’s a mystery injury we don’t know about and won’t find discover until everyone reports to camp.
Training camp is set to open on Sept. 20.