Kylington employs a polarizing playing style that some will simply never be on board with. I mean, his max potential is basically that of a middle class Karlsson and just look at the amount of grief that guy got while winning norris trophies. He could play a flawless 59 minutes but make one defensive mistake leading to a goal against and that's all the detractors will focus on.
And I suspect that's much the case with Kylington; he's improved by leaps and bounds from his draft year and yet, some defensive mistakes and it's the end of the world. Those same mistakes by anyone else and it's met with shrug. It's a matter of perception I guess; even if the frequency of errors is the same, one set gets hit with the narrative that's it's expected and therefore unacceptable while the others get a pass because it's considered a one off.
Kylington's skating pretty much guarantee's him a job at some level in the NHL. The Flames are still very much a developmental mess; prospects either make it straight out of junior like Valimaki and Dube this year, or struggle to make the jump for one reason or the other. A different organization, like say the Penguins which excel at getting the most out of their defensemen, could make Kylington a star. But given the Flames' porous defensive depth now, good chance Kylington will get the opportunity to show off what he can do sooner than later.
It's the brutal turnover from trying to do too much that'll always cost Kylington. Like a lot of young players, less can sometimes be more.
I like his upside a lot, and I think he's an NHLer as well.
I just recall the WJC he anchored Sweden's blueline. He'd play 24-26 minutes a night, where 99% of it was just fine; but he'd make a dumb play on blueline or an egregious turnover in his end, and all of the sudden this entire board (all of HF, not just CFHF) would be like 'oooffff, turrible game!' The problem with Oliver is the inability to play a clean 60 minutes. So yes, when Giordano makes a bad play, you forgive him because you know his next shift won't have the same mistake repeated, the same thing cannot be said for Kylington.
He has improved tremendously from his rookie year. He's getting more responsible, and more responsibility every year; which is what you want to see from your prospects.
I do disagree in terms of the Flames development system itself. I think a lot has to do with scouting/management changes versus development. Essentially the good development programs in the NHL are more than happy to have their kids stew for 4-5 years combined CHL/Pro experience; in Calgary's case, our management groups clean house on depth guys every few years because it's a new manager. Also, our drafting stunk up the building for the longest time. Not sure how you're suppose to churn out NHL'ers with the Max Reinharts, Ty Wotherspoons, Pat Sieloffs, and Keegan Kanzig's of the world.
Oliver will get his chance. I do think he'll be Calgary's 6/7D next season.
