If any of that were true, you would have a salient point. However, it isn’t. No one outside of the player and the organization knows the reason for his absence. He has said it was for mental health issues but as that is very difficult to substantiate, and more relevant , it is a grey area in the CBA. Particularly because he did not leverage the Player Assistance Program, which was designed for the circumstances most people seem to assume applies to Kylington. There is a reason why he did not qualify for LTIR in the first year he ghosted, and an exception had to be filed the large portion of the second season he missed. Do no, the Flames did not have to accommodate him. They did so, admirably, because they felt it was the right thing to do.

Which leads to your second point: the message it sends to the players. Did their actions and understanding help them sign or retain anyone? And When did the narrative transition from why are all these players leaving or requesting out (Brodie, Toffoli, Gaudreau, Tkachuk, Tanev, Zadorov, Lindholm, Markstrom) to, well look at all the players lining up to sign in Calgary, taking discounts to stay because of how the Flames dealt with Kylington (and before him, Hamonic.)

As someone who manages their life with significant mental health diagnosis, I am getting tired of the naivety and virtue signalling. The Flames did Kylington a massive solid and he took full advantage and looked out for himself. He made the system work for him. Good for him. All permissible. But can we stop pretending Kylington is some sort of tragic victim who did something heroic or the Flames didn’t get taken advantage of?

Kylington is laughing all the way to the bank.

Hopefully Conroy learned a valuable lesson that loyalty in his role is nonsensical and very rarely reciprocated.

While Treliving bears a good portion of the responsibility for the mess this franchise is in, the harsh reality is that ownership and a large segment of the fanbase (the segment that believes they are smarter than every championship team in the last 20 years and will assert this team should never consider a “rebuild”) are the primary culprits. The moves outlined above were a result of that mentality. It is, unfortunately, that simple. And until that changes, the Flames will never be escape this predictable cycle of mediocrity.