It was revealed by the Calgary Flames interim general manager Don Maloney that the team would be getting one of their player back, Oliver Kylington. He spent all of last season away from the team and they dearly missed his presence on the blue line. While chemistry was thrown off and some other changes in the lineup caused for a poor season overall by the team, we’re going to look at how his return changes offseason plans.
Who Stays, Who Goes
Fortunately for the Flames, this news that Kylington will be back next season comes at the start of the offseason and they have time to sort things out. Kylington, along with Chris Tanev, Noah Hanifin, and Nikita Zadorov, only have one year left on their contracts before they become unrestricted free agents (UFA). With Kylington back in the lineup, the team is using a significant portion of the cap space on their defence. Although they would have six solid defencemen in the lineup, the uncertainty about the future could change plans and cause a trade ahead of time.
Related: 3 Calgary Flames Offseason Trade Candidates
While I believe Hanifin and Zadorov are safe this offseason, the same can’t be said about Kylington and Tanev. If I were to pick, Tanev is the player to move as he is the oldest, is overpaid ($4.5 million AAV), and is injury prone as the Flames found out last season. Tanev will be a little harder to move than Kylington, but they are also different types of players.
The Flames may not particularly want to move Kylington as he broke out in 2021-22 and is still 25 years old, approaching his prime and on a good contract. The Flames could stick with the six strong defencemen they have for one more year and figure it out in the offseason, but that comes with risk. The best play would be to move Tanev, free up cap space to help add up front, and give the many younger defencemen a chance to seize the sixth/seventh spot on the team in preseason or acquire someone who’s suited for the bottom pair in free agency.
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