Value of: Kylington's next contract

[Wayne Primeau]

Oliver Kylington has had an incredible start to the season at both ends of the ice. He'll be a 25-year-old RFA at the end of the year with two seasons left until he can hit UFA.

A two-year deal would walk him directly to unrestricted free agency. A one-year deal would give him the ability to take a QO and go straight to UFA after that. So, what should/will the Flames do with Kylington's next deal?

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[Ledge And Dairy]

I think it's too early to tell right now. Committing to a long term deal could really backfire if this is just a 1 year thing, like what if this ends up being like Gostisbehere. IMO a 3 year deal like Weegar may make the most sense.

 

[Wayne Primeau]

Off topic, but Gostisbehere gets really undervalued. He's had like 1.5 bad years on that contract.

 

[ForsbergForever]

Is it true he pronounces his name SH-ilington? As a GM I would want no part of that nonsense.

 

[Double Dion]

I'd look to sign him to a Rasmus Andersson style deal. 6 years 24M. Seems rich, but I think it will be a bargain. It's not his fault the Flames Bennetted his development for 5 years. He's an excellent player.

 

[JPeeper]

Is it true he pronounces his name SH-ilington? As a GM I would want no part of that nonsense.

That's because that's how its pronounced

 

[Habsrule]

If I were the GM I’d wait a lot longer to talk contract with him. I’d hesitate to sign a player not even a quarter of the way into the season when he is having a hot start. You are either going to pay for his breakout season and the contract can look good. Or you can pay for a hot streak and have a player cash in for more than what they should be. The negatives outweigh the positives there.

 

[Ledge And Dairy]

I'd look to sign him to a Rasmus Andersson style deal. 6 years 24M. Seems rich, but I think it will be a bargain. It's not his fault the Flames Bennetted his development for 5 years. He's an excellent player.

Please no, you cant make a call like that off 15 games

 

[Double Dion]

Please no, you cant make a call like that off 15 games

Making the call off of everything I've seen from him. I called this before the season. I'm also calling in advance that Mackey will be a better player than either Zadorov or Valimaki too. He should be playing ahead of both.

 

[Ledge And Dairy]

Making the call off of everything I've seen from him. I called this before the season. I'm also calling in advance that Mackey will be a better player than either Zadorov or Valimaki too. He should be playing ahead of both.

Most things are better than Zadorov. Shilly is not worth what you are saying though amd won't get that. Valimaki's ceiling is still much higher than his and Mackey's.

 

[Wayne Primeau]

Respectfully, Kylington has always had a higher ceiling than Valimaki. The question has always been Kylington's floor. But there was one point where Kylington was projected to go top 5 in a stacked draft class.

 

[T_Cage]

Is it true he pronounces his name SH-ilington? As a GM I would want no part of that nonsense.

Id offer him an extra 200k on his next contract if he changes the spelling and ends the confusion

 

[Double Dion]

Most things are better than Zadorov. Shilly is not worth what you are saying though amd won't get that. Valimaki's ceiling is still much higher than his and Mackey's.

Is that you Steinberg? Valimaki isn't what I hoped he would be. His skating needs work, his reads need work, his gap control needs work and he has no poise.

There is some talent there for sure. But the 2 years of lost development time vastly effects his trajectory. He needs a bottom feeder to play for that can give him 200 games. Calgary isn't that place. I might play him ahead of Zadorov, but definitely not ahead of Mackey.

It's laughable to suggest his ceiling is higher than Kylington. Kylington was in the SHL at 15 years old. He might have the best all around skating of any defenseman in the game. I don't think there is any question that to this point of the season he looks like he's worth far far more than 4M. Not really his fault the organization Bennetted him before that.

 

[Backlund]

Probably a bridge deal. Gaudreau, Tkachuk and Mangiapane need new contracts and Lucic still has another year after this one. Kylington definitely has the highest ceiling of all the Flames defenseman (at least offensively) and seems to have improved enough to where his floor isn't as much of a concern.

 

[Ledge And Dairy]

Is that you Steinberg? Valimaki isn't what I hoped he would be. His skating needs work, his reads need work, his gap control needs work and he has no poise.

There is some talent there for sure. But the 2 years of lost development time vastly effects his trajectory. He needs a bottom feeder to play for that can give him 200 games. Calgary isn't that place. I might play him ahead of Zadorov, but definitely not ahead of Mackey.

It's laughable to suggest his ceiling is higher than Kylington. Kylington was in the SHL at 15 years old. He might have the best all around skating of any defenseman in the game. I don't think there is any question that to this point of the season he looks like he's worth far far more than 4M. Not really his fault the organization Bennetted him before that.

Wow a young player with potential needs to improve on things to reach his potential? What a revelation!

You do realize that Valimaki is both a year (2 draft years) younger than Kylington and 2 years younger than Mackey right? Then factor in the loss of development time from injuries and you can up him almost 3 years behind.

Your opinion on Mackey is also based off a 6 game sample size. Talk about laughable. Mackey's not exactly doing so hot in Stockton right now

Kylington's had an excellent start to the season after 2 years of a wake-up call, thats it. He hasnt become an elite defensemen, he hasn't become a #1, he's just been solid over a small sample size. Valimaki still very much has #1 potential and thinking otherwise is asinine.

The only thing you are right about here is that he needs games, Zadorov should have been benched a while ago with all his bone-headed plays.

 

[Double Dion]

Wow a young player with potential needs to improve on things to reach his potential? What a revelation!

You do realize that Valimaki is both a year (2 draft years) younger than Kylington and 2 years younger than Mackey right? Then factor in the loss of development time from injuries and you can up him almost 3 years behind.

Your opinion on Mackey is also based off a 6 game sample size. Talk about laughable. Mackey's not exactly doing so hot in Stockton right now

Kylington's had an excellent start to the season after 2 years of a wake-up call, thats it. He hasnt become an elite defensemen, he hasn't become a #1, he's just been solid over a small sample size. Valimaki still very much has #1 potential and thinking otherwise is asinine.

The only thing you are right about here is that he needs games, Zadorov should have been benched a while ago with all his bone-headed plays.

Odd that is every measurable stat that Kylington is 1st on the team and that Valimaki is last then right? Granted, small sample size, especially for Valimaki. But if you're right then why does everything measurable say otherwise? Again, small sample size, but even Zadorov has significantly better numbers than Valimaki.

Yes the sample size is small on Mackey. But I've seen enough to prefer him to either Valimaki or Zadorov.

The challenge with Valimaki is that he costs you games. He cost us a ton of games last year. Every player he played with was worse with him than without. His inability to move backwards is an issue and his poor reads make him hard for even Tanev to play with.

The best coach we've had in 30 years seems happiest to let him eat popcorn and rot because he knows he doesn't have the 200 games to give him that he needs. Dealing him to a rebuilding team is the solution IMO. Yes he has potential, but we don't have the time.

Unless of course we rebuild. Then play Valimaki.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

If Flames could get him to sign 8 years $30M they should jump at it. But they never would.

Dude is an absolute stud whose development has been terribly managed. To this day they still aren't using him properly - he's the team's highest scoring defenseman but gets no PP time. He's 2nd only to Gaudreau in ES points.

ES points:
Kylington 12
Tanev 5
Zadorov 4
Gudbranson 4
Andersson 3
Hanifin 2

Yet somehow the bottom 2 guys run their 2 PP units...

It's amazing the flames have had any success in the last decade with how poorly they've developed and managed their assets.

 

[Double Dion]

If Flames could get him to sign 8 years $30M they should jump at it. But they never would.

Dude is an absolute stud whose development has been terribly managed. To this day they still aren't using him properly - he's the team's highest scoring defenseman but gets no PP time. He's 2nd only to Gaudreau in ES points.

ES points:
Kylington 12
Tanev 5
Zadorov 4
Gudbranson 4
Andersson 3
Hanifin 2

Yet somehow the bottom 2 guys run their 2 PP units...

It's amazing the flames have had any success in the last decade with how poorly they've developed and managed their assets.

You have some controversial opinions. They are mostly correct though. I've coined the term Bennetted. The Flames drafting has been prodigious over the past 8 or so seasons. Their ability to recognize talent at the pro level has been horrific. Kylington should be running PP2 at minimum. I get They want the RHS of Andersson on PP1, but he should be on PP2.

The only thing I've ever disagreed with you in a meaningful way on is your take on Tkachuk. Yes we should trade him, but he is a valuable player. Particularly in zone exists and around the net.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

You have some controversial opinions. They are mostly correct though. I've coined the term Bennetted. The Flames drafting has been prodigious over the past 8 or so seasons. Their ability to recognize talent at the pro level has been horrific. Kylington should be running PP2 at minimum. I get They want the RHS of Andersson on PP1, but he should be on PP2.

The only thing I've ever disagreed with you in a meaningful way on is your take on Tkachuk. Yes we should trade him, but he is a valuable player. Particularly in zone exists and around the net.

Tkachuk is an excellent half zone offensive player, great playmaker in the neutral zone, and draws a lot of penalties. Where he gets in trouble is when he tries to do too much or make unnecessary blind passes to nobody, and unfortunately he's been doing that a lot in the last 2 years (though he's dialed it back a bit in the last month). He can absolutely be an effective complimentary offensive player, no doubt about that. But his lack of foot speed will always cause issues, especially when the games get faster, like in the playoffs (and likely the Olympics).

But where his value really falls is in his $9M qualifying offer.

 

[Double Dion]

Tkachuk is an excellent half zone offensive player, great playmaker in the neutral zone, and draws a lot of penalties. Where he gets in trouble is when he tries to do too much or make unnecessary blind passes to nobody, and unfortunately he's been doing that a lot in the last 2 years (though he's dialed it back a bit in the last month). He can absolutely be an effective complimentary offensive player, no doubt about that. But his lack of foot speed will always cause issues, especially when the games get faster, like in the playoffs (and likely the Olympics).

But where his value really falls is in his $9M qualifying offer.

I agree. He's not a driver, but I think you leave out the way he gets pucks out when they come up the wall. It's an underrated trait. Trevor Lewis is a pretty bland player, but he does that very well too. Tkachuk's play on Gaudreaus first goal against Buffalo is a prime example of that.

It's especially important with getting the puck out being the biggest thing Gaudreau struggles with.

Yes I too get tired of Watchung his between the legs shots and the odd blind pass. He is also a beer league level skater. Those are liabilities to be sure, but his strengths are also huge assets.

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

5.5M x 8Y is what I'm hoping for

 

[crazyfisherman]

anything long term at less than 5.5, i'm ok with. He would be up there in the D-man scoring race if he got any pp time. Hell, he alr lead the league in ES pts for a D-man

 

[Clint Eastwood]

Just a reminder that this man was on waivers not too long ago.

 

[Mobiandi]

Just a reminder that this man was on waivers not too long ago.

Not through any fault of his own. Purely a cap saving move by the owners and also because Treliving is a terrible talent evaluator

 

[Clint Eastwood]

Not through any fault of his own. Purely a cap saving move by the owners and also because Treliving is a terrible talent evaluator

Yeah I wasn't aiming to rip on him. I mean that this guy was free for anyone to grab not too long ago.