Finally! There’s news around the National Hockey League. The Colorado Avalanche announced on Monday afternoon that they signed defenceman Oliver Kylington to a one-year $1.05 million contract.

Kylington, 27, played 33 games with the Calgary Flames last season, scoring three goals and eight points. He finished with a minus-six rating in 17:15 average time on ice. He was drafted with the last pick in the second round (60th overall) of the stacked 2015 NHL draft. Throughout his six-year NHL career, Kylington has scored 17 goals and 55 points in 201 games.

The left-shot defenceman had a breakout 2021-2022 campaign, scoring nine goals and 34 points with a remarkable plus-34 rating in 73 games. Before the next season, Kylington bravely decided to take a leave of absence from the game to focus on his mental health back in Sweden. He would miss the entire 2022-2023 season and didn’t return until halfway through 2023-2024.

After a two-game stint in the AHL with the Calgary Wranglers, Kylington rejoined the Flames on January 25th, 2024, in a game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. It was a slow start for the Swede, as he was held pointless throughout his first eight games. A visible weight was lifted off Kylington’s shoulders once he finally got on the scoresheet against the Winnipeg Jets.

The Avalanche now round out their defence corps, pairing Kylington with Calvin de Haan on the bottom pair. Kylington will bring some offensive firepower and elite puck-moving ability to Colorado’s blue line — something they’ve missed since they traded Bowen Byram at last year’s trade deadline.

With Kylington off the board, the options are bleak for the Vancouver Canucks to add a puck-moving defencemen before the season starts. Tyson Barrie, John Klingberg, Justin Schultz, and Kevin Shattenkirk are the four established puck-moving defencemen who are still available.

If the club decides to go the cheap-trade route, two restricted free agents remain unsigned: Philip Broberg and Victor Soderstrom.

There are options still remaining for Canucks General Manager Patrik Allvin. With training camp beginning on September 19th,  we’ll see if the club signs a depth defenceman with high-level puck-moving ability.