The Calgary Flames have recalled defenseman Oliver Kylington from Stockton of the AHL.
With T.J. Brodie sidelined following a scary episode in practice on Thursday, the team needed another defender. As such, they placed Juuso Valimaki on LTIR and brought Kylington back.
Kylington was sent to Stockton for a little more seasoning and to round out his game. In particular, they wanted him working on his defense and being used in penalty killing situations so that he could be an option down the road.
He spent three games with the baby Flames and scored three goals during that short period of time. Clearly, offense isn’t an issue for him.
The hope is the same can be said of his defense, especially shorthanded. While three games isn’t going to transform a player, ideally he was given good reps on the PK so that he’ll be more comfortable and used to the positioning if needed by Bill Peters.
Brodie did serve as a regular on the penalty kill so somebody will have to step up and take extra minutes in his absence. I would guess Rasmus Andersson and/or Michael Stone will cover most of it but it’d be nice if Kylington was serviceable as well – especially if it is one of the team’s defenders sitting in the box.
It’s going to be interesting to see how Peters deploys his defenders in this period without Brodie. Let’s hope it is a short one and he can get back to full health, and doing what he loves, sooner than later.
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