The Calgary Flames re-signed Oliver Kylington on Tuesday. Kylington is the 10th defender that the Flames have on a one-way contract, and all 10 of them have NHL experience. The importance of having so many blueliners is underscored with one name.
Brennan Evans.
The Flames began the 2003-04 season with 11 defencemen on NHL contracts. At the NHL level, they had Jordan Leopold, Toni Lydman, Robyn Regehr, Rhett Warrener, Andrew Ference, Denis Gauthier and Steve Montador (who started the season as their seventh D). The Flames were sharing an American Hockey League affiliate with the Carolina Hurricanes, so they only had four other AHL defenders on NHL deals: Roman Rozakov, Jesse Wallin, Mike Commodore and Evans.