Oliver Kylington ( ; born 19 May 1997) is a Swedish professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the la ...

for the

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL). Kylington was born in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

and grew up in

Sundbyberg Sundbyberg Municipality (''Sundbybergs kommun'' or ''Sundbybergs stad'') is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden, just north of the capital Stockholm. Sundbyberg is wholly within the Stockholm urban area and has a 100% urban p ...

in the Stockholm urban area. He was drafted 60th overall by the Calgary Flames in the

2015 NHL Entry Draft The 2015 NHL Entry Draft was the 53rd NHL Entry Draft. The draft was held on June 26–27, 2015, at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida. The first three selections were Connor McDavid going to the Edmonton Oilers, Jack Eichel going to the Buffa ...

Early life

Kylington was born in Stockholm to a Swedish father and an Eritrean mother. His mother, Teber Zeru, settled in Sweden when she was a teenager as a refugee from the

Eritrean War of Independence The Eritrean War of Independence was a war for independence which Eritrean independence fighters waged against successive Ethiopian governments from 1 September 1961 to 24 May 1991. Eritrea was an Italian colony from the 1880s until the d ...

. She and Kylington's father Börje met in Stockholm.

Playing career

Kylington made his

Swedish Hockey League The Swedish Hockey League (officially SHL; sv, Svenska Hockeyligan) is a professional ice hockey league, and the highest division in the Swedish ice hockey system. The league currently consists of 14 teams. The league was founded in 1975, an ...

(SHL) debut as a 16-year-old playing with

Färjestad BK Färjestad Bollklubb (; abbreviated as FBK) is a Swedish professional ice hockey team based in Karlstad. Färjestad has had 21 Swedish Championship final appearances, winning ten times since the Swedish Hockey League (SHL; formerly Elitserien) ...

during the 2013–14 season. On 10 January 2014, having impressed at SHL level, Kylington was signed to a two-year contract extension to remain with Färjestad BK. His

KHL The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs b ...

rights were attained by

Avangard Omsk Hockey Club Avangard (russian: ХК Авангард, links=no, Vanguard), also known as Avangard Omsk, is a Russian professional ice hockey team from Omsk. It is a member of the Chernyshev Division in the Eastern Conference of the Kontinental H ...

who drafted him 107th overall in the 2014

KHL Junior Draft The KHL Junior Draft was an annual meeting in which every franchise of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) systematically draft (sports), selected the rights to available amateur ice hockey players who met draft eligibility requirements (17–21 ye ...

. In the midst of his second SHL season in 2014–15, Kylington was loaned by Färjestads to

HockeyAllsvenskan HockeyAllsvenskan (previously Allsvenskan and SuperAllsvenskan) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league, and the second-highest league in the Sweden, Swedish ice hockey system (after the Swedish Hockey League, SHL). Since the 2009–10 ...

team,

AIK AIK Fotboll (), more commonly known simply as AIK (), an abbreviation for Allmänna Idrottsklubben (meaning ''the public'' or ''general sports club''), is a Swedish football club competing in Allsvenskan, the top flight of Swedish football. The ...

on 10 November 2014. He produced four goals and seven points, the most in the Allsvenskan by an under-18 player, in 17 games with AIK before returning to Färjestad to finish the season ranked in the top-ten European skaters to be eligible for the

. On 13 May 2015, with the intention of more playing time to further his development, it was announced Kylington had agreed to a two-year contract to return to AIK of the Allsvenskan. Kylington was drafted in the second round, 60th overall, (a pick acquired via the

Arizona Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are a professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Coyotes compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and currently play at the Mull ...

) by the

in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. On 15 July 2015, he signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the team. On the direction of the Flames organization, Kylington decided against continuing with AIK and remained in North America to be assigned to their

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

(AHL) affiliate, the

Stockton Heat The Stockton Heat were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that played from 2015 to 2022. The team was based in Stockton, California, and was affiliated with the National Hockey League (NHL) Calgary Flames. The Hea ...

, to begin the 2015–16 season. On 9 April 2016, Kylington made his NHL debut in a game against the

Minnesota Wild The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and play their home games at the Xcel Ener ...

. Kylington began the 2018–19 season in the American Hockey League with the Stockton Heat. He was recalled to the NHL and recorded his first career NHL goal in a 5–2 win over the

Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (commonly referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and ha ...

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* 1997 births Living people AIK IF players Calgary Flames draft picks Calgary Flames players Swedish expatriate ice hockey players in Canada Swedish expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Färjestad BK players People from Sundbyberg Municipality Ice hockey people from Stockholm Stockton Heat players Swedish ice hockey defencemen Swedish people of Eritrean descent Swedish sportspeople of African descent Black ice hockey players {{Sweden-icehockey-defenceman-stub