Kylington Set to Return to NHL Action After 20 Months Away from the Game

After roughly a year and a half of attending to his mental health, Oliver Kylington was activated off long term injury reserve on Thursday afternoon and will play his first NHL game since May 26th, 2022.  

Questions began to surface in September of 2022 when general manager Brad Treliving announced that Oliver Kylington would miss the beginning of training camp for a personal family issue. That absence carried on throughout the entirety of the 2022-2023 regular season.

Finally, on August 10, 2023, Oliver broke the silence in an interview with Henrik Sjöberg of hockeynews.se. The 26-year-old left defenceman had been dealing with a combination of family issues and mental health issues.

Träffade Oliver Kylington i dag som berättar om den psykiska ohälsan som stoppade honom från spel under hela förra säsongen.
Trevligt att träffa en idag välmående Ollie.
Länk till intervjun (text+tv): https://t.co/p6cXvMsPtJ#flames #GoFlamesGo, #CofRed pic.twitter.com/EhswgpvMTf

— Henrik Sjöberg (@sjobergh) August 10, 2023

Translation of tweet: “Met Oliver Kylington today, who talks about the mental illness that kept him out of action for the entirety of last season. Nice to meet a healthy Ollie today. Link to the interview (text+tv):”

Following a failure to get medical clearance to play on September 21, 2023, the 6-foot-0 Swede remained in Calgary to work towards feeling better with the help of team professionals. The organization provided a short media release upon the news breaking.

Following yesterday’s medical and fitness testing, it was determined that Oliver is unable to participate in the opening of training camp today. As this is a private personal matter, no further information will be provided.

Soon-to-be captain Mikael Backlund spoke to Oliver’s struggles that same day.

“We miss him here in the room. He brings a lot of energy in the room. Tremendous player. But his health comes first…”

Kylington, 26, began skating with the team in early December and found himself assigned to the AHL Wranglers in a conditioning stint. The 60th overall pick in 2015 released the following upon his assignment.  

“I feel I’m in a good place with my mental health and ready to take another step forward. Returning to Calgary has been the right decision. I’ve felt tremendous commitment from Flames ownership, management, and my teammates, and I am appreciative of the support and resources made available to me. I also thank my family, friends, and the fans for their encouragement. I’m looking forward to getting on the ice in a team environment and back to my everyday life. I have missed it very much.” 

As Kylington wrapped up a brief stint in the AHL, the city waited with bated breath to hear of any further developments. Today the news came through that Oliver would be dressing for tonight’s rumble against Johnny Gaudreau and the Columbus Blue Jackets.  

Hats off to Oliver on his return.