Player Discussion Klefbom: The bombs are back in town.

[thadd]

I can remember Klefbom was really shooting the puck a ton before he went down to injury this year and given how he's put so many points up over the past few games I get this feeling that he's now returned to where he left off last season.

Is it logical to think that Klefbom isn't just on a hot streak and may be a legit 1st pairing d-man at this point?

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[TheNumber4]

I can remember Klefbom was really shooting the puck a ton before he went down to injury this year and given how he's put so many points up over the past few games I get this feeling that he's now returned to where he left off last season.

Is it logical to think that Klefbom isn't just on a hot streak and may be a legit 1st pairing d-man at this point?

He was great last year. He's been great this year. He's definitely a #2 D-man, even without the couple of games. But the last couple of games did show he has potential for be a #1D. Albeit an average one at best.

 

[Aerchon]

Going to be the Debbie downer and point out how he was struggling until the last 2 games with Russel back. This guy gets more hype than McDavid seems to at times.

Klefbom certainly has #1 potential. His stint of games last year before he got injured was amazing and against top 4 competition. A solid two way performance that I was not expecting from him for years.

Defenseman dont typically develop in a linear fashion. His play for how every many games it was last year 15 to 20? Was a massive jump in development. His last 2 games he has looked great again, if not flawless...

... But its been only 2 games this year, with far more average to below performances than dominate performances in the first 20.

Hopefully he just has finally shaken off the rust/injury and we see more of Klefbom the great.

 

[LaGu]

Going to be the Debbie downer and point out how he was struggling until the last 2 games with Russel back. This guy gets more hype than McDavid seems to at times.

Klefbom certainly has #1 potential. His stint of games last year before he got injured was amazing and against top 4 competition. A solid two way performance that I was not expecting from him for years.

Defenseman dont typically develop in a linear fashion. His play for how every many games it was last year 15 to 20? Was a massive jump in development. His last 2 games he has looked great again, if not flawless...

... But its been only 2 games this year, with far more average to below performances than dominate performances in the first 20.

Hopefully he just has finally shaken off the rust/injury and we see more of Klefbom the great.

Colour me surprised...

Anyway, it was almost exactly the same last season (and the one before), it took him until November to really get going. Prior to that, someone (not mentioning names but you know who I am talking about ) pointed out that "that contract is not looking very good"... Whilst others pointed out that he is 1) young D still learning the trade and 2) was still on his ELC...

He is a bit of a slow started, but honestly who can blame him seeing the bumps he's hit with injuries. He doesn't have to be a Doughty this year, neither does Larsson even though we all want them to be stellar all the time. They are growing together and for D it normally takes some time to figure everything out.

All that said, Klefbom is still way ahead of the curve when it comes to how he has developed. It is really awesome to see someone who despite his struggles with injury manages to continue to take big steps forward in his development.


Oh, and lastly, no. He gets no where near the hype that McDavid does... Not even close.

 

[Spawn]

Klefbom is a bit of a perplexing player. When he's on his game he's definitely a top pairing dman. But when he's not playing like that he can be downright awful. The last couple games he has been really strong, but for a lot of games this year he has struggled with decision making and consistency. Hopefully he can find the latter and really take the next step here.

 

[Aerchon]

Colour me surprised...

Anyway, it was almost exactly the same last season (and the one before), it took him until November to really get going. Prior to that, someone (not mentioning names but you know who I am talking about ) pointed out that "that contract is not looking very good"... Whilst others pointed out that he is 1) young D still learning the trade and 2) was still on his ELC...

He is a bit of a slow started, but honestly who can blame him seeing the bumps he's hit with injuries. He doesn't have to be a Doughty this year, neither does Larsson even though we all want them to be stellar all the time. They are growing together and for D it normally takes some time to figure everything out.

All that said, Klefbom is still way ahead of the curve when it comes to how he has developed. It is really awesome to see someone who despite his struggles with injury manages to continue to take big steps forward in his development.


Oh, and lastly, no. He gets no where near the hype that McDavid does... Not even close.

All good points except that relatively speaking Klefbom gets rediculously over hyped.

There was serious talk, that Klefbom himself quoted publicly, that the Oilers last year missed him more than McDavid.

And while there is certainly some truth to that due to how terrible our defense was without him its still kind of disgusting for people to really be talking about Klefbom as being more impactfull than the best player since Crosby.

I still scratch my head when after stringing 2-3 good games the previous 17-18 get thrown out the window.

So far this year Klefbom has clearly been our 3Rd or 4th best defender if you look at ALL the games.

Larsson
Sekera/Russel take your pick
Klefbom/whoever you didnt pick from above.

Heck on the main boards there is a guy placing Nurse as our best Dman. I disagree with that but some might even put Klefbom as our 5th best Dman through the full 20 games.

Each thier own. I love how Klefbom is tracking now and think the sky is the limit but I would still think if he does end up being consistently great it probably wont be for at least another year or two.

 

[LaGu]

All good points except that relatively speaking Klefbom gets rediculously over hyped.

There was serious talk, that Klefbom himself quoted publicly, that the Oilers last year missed him more than McDavid.

And while there is certainly some truth to that due to how terrible our defense was without him its still kind of disgusting for people to really be talking about Klefbom as being more impactfull than the best player since Crosby.

I still scratch my head when after stringing 2-3 good games the previous 17-18 get thrown out the window.

So far this year Klefbom has clearly been our 3Rd or 4th best defender if you look at ALL the games.

Larsson
Sekera/Russel take your pick
Klefbom/whoever you didnt pick from above.

Heck on the main boards there is a guy placing Nurse as our best Dman. I disagree with that but some might even put Klefbom as our 5th best Dman through the full 20 games.

Each thier own. I love how Klefbom is tracking now and think the sky is the limit but I would still think if he does end up being consistently great it probably wont be for at least another year or two.

There was a lot of context lost in that discussion and in that quote, and it was talk in social media more than anything else iirc.

As someone who likes to look at the defense and the merits of defensemen you know as well as I do that balance is immensely important. Look at what having real defensemen has done for this team, despite that none of them are in the same universe as McDavid. The loss of McDavid last season was to an extent eased by the hot streak that Hall and Draisaitl went on. The loss of Klefbom meant that we had to dress Nikitin/Hunt/Fayne and play Sekera, Nurse and Schultz much more.

In a defense corp that has no depth what-so-ever if you remove arguably the best player what do you end up with? In a FWD core where you have Hall, Eberle, Draisaitl, RNH and you remove McDavid you also end up in a worse place, but the impact is probably greater of having a depleted D corp. You can even move it to the extreme and ask the importance of a the goalie. What happens if Talbot gets injured, we play Gustavsson/Broissoit and I bet that it would be worse losing Talbot for 10 games than it would be losing McDavid for 10 games (despite the fact that this time there is no Hall that can carry the load).


Aside from that discussion, which is relevant but not the main point, there was never any discussion about Klefbom as a player vs McDavid as a player. It was an interesting discussion in social media about the relevance and importance of a balanced defense and it also exposed the depth of the Oilers D was horrendous despite having added Sekera.

 

[Aceboogie]

All good points except that relatively speaking Klefbom gets rediculously over hyped.

There was serious talk, that Klefbom himself quoted publicly, that the Oilers last year missed him more than McDavid.

And while there is certainly some truth to that due to how terrible our defense was without him its still kind of disgusting for people to really be talking about Klefbom as being more impactfull than the best player since Crosby.

I still scratch my head when after stringing 2-3 good games the previous 17-18 get thrown out the window.

So far this year Klefbom has clearly been our 3Rd or 4th best defender if you look at ALL the games.

Larsson
Sekera/Russel take your pick
Klefbom/whoever you didnt pick from above.

Heck on the main boards there is a guy placing Nurse as our best Dman. I disagree with that but some might even put Klefbom as our 5th best Dman through the full 20 games.

Each thier own. I love how Klefbom is tracking now and think the sky is the limit but I would still think if he does end up being consistently great it probably wont be for at least another year or two.

Klefbom has had amazing games in first 15 games. Either you remember it wrong or your way to cynical. Go back and look at cult of hockey player grades for games. Klefbom has had his fair share of really good grades. Klefbom at his peak plays like a #1 and even at his worst is just in over his head slightly

 

[Aceboogie]

Here are Klefboms grades starting from Game 1 according to Cult of Hockey. I could dig up old PGTs but COH ranked each player after after game and I find more often than not its pretty accurate. 10 is a rare, rare occurrence. I think only 5/6 times a 10 has been given out- 1 for Gagners 8 point night and 1 for Scrivens 58 save game, some other sprinkled throughout the years. A 9 is really good and probably one of players best games all season. An 8 is a outstanding game but player had a very faults. 7 is a really solid game, 6 is an above average game, but given tough minutes it could be a good game. 5 is a average game, 4 is slightly below average, 3 is below average and 2 is a bad game. 1 is pitful. Keep in mind a 5 for a top line player is different than a 5 for a bottom line guy given the quality of comp

Game 1: 7
Game 2: 6
Game 3: 3 Ugly loss to Buffalo
Game 4: 4
Game 5: 7 big win versus Blues
Game 6: 7
Game 7: 7
Game 8: 6
Game 9: 6
Game 10: 7

Klefbom then started a stretch of bad game from here. But in the first 10 games Klefbom had some really good games on the Oilers top pairing. A 7 in that role is very good. Consider this last game he was graded an 8.

Players grades arent the be all and end all but I think people opinions maybe are clouded on his first 10 games- he was a really good D and actually thriving in that top pairing role. Him and Larsson led the league for top pairing duos for high danger chance %. They now sit #1 for HDCF but also very high for HDCA numbers

Klefboms issue is consistancy and I think that plagues him because a) hes played under 150 games in NHL. B) He was injured for half of last season

If he shows inconsitancy at the end of this season ill be worried. But right now you have to expect that from a pretty raw D coming back from injury. You have to look at his upside which IMO is huge. And this is just looking at his tools and sayign that, this is looking at his actual play and seeing that in 10-15 games over last 2 years hes looked like a #1 D. Youd hope and half expect him to bring that more often as he gets more experience

 

[Stoneman89]

Now has his own goal scoring song.


soundcloud.com/thenielsonandfrasershow/the-oscar-klefbom-goal-song-kings-111816 …

 

[Zaddy]

I think it's easy for people to forget that Klefbom is only 23 and has only played 127 NHL games. To play top pairing and come out okay or better in that situation is very impressive. They say that a d-man doesn't really come into his own until he has played 200 games or more in this league and I think it rings true. Already this early into his career Klefboms play is very encouraging. If he can just stay healthy and find that consistency in his game there's no reason he can't be a legit #1D in this league. I don't know if he'll ever be elite but he'll be a #1D workhorse who can be used in all situations and can put up 30-40 points hopefully in his prime. He's already a legit #2D capable of putting up 20-30 points.

 

[Draiskull]

even last game Klefbom got walked around a couple times. His "bomb" is weak and has also been off target for the most part but good to see some of them going in.

Great potential though..

 

[Aceboogie]

Klefbom now ranks 3rd in the NHl for shots by a D with 37. Below him is Karlsson, Petro, Josi, Krug

 

[Stoneman89]

Klefbom now ranks 3rd in the NHl for shots by a D with 37. Below him is Karlsson, Petro, Josi, Krug

Meanwhile, Sekera leads the league in shinpads.

 

[Jepprey]

He was playing like horse **** prior to this scoring touch so it's nice to get away from that.

It's about damn time they stopped the overload play on PP and started moving the puck from the point man.

Does this guy think he's Mike green now? Lol. Doesn't matter. The oilers are finally getting some offensive production from its d men for the first time in a million years.

 

[Aceboogie]

Meanwhile, Sekera leads the league in shinpads.

Lmao Sekera has 15 shots on net but has a total of 59 shot attempts (shots on net + missed shots + blocked shots). That is vastly higher than anyone in the 15 shot range. really ineffective

So basically he is horrible at getting shots on net

Klefbom on the other hand has 35 shots on net and 63 shot attempts which is identical to Pietrangelo and a pretty good ratio (so Ill also say the poster above is a bit off in that statement where he misses the net)

Nurse has an even better ratio at 34 shots and 59 shot attempts

 

[Nordic*]

I'd say that ALL players below at least 25-26 years old, struggle with inconsistency. Especially defencemen.

It usually improves with experience.

 

[thadd]

He was great last year. He's been great this year. He's definitely a #2 D-man, even without the couple of games. But the last couple of games did show he has potential for be a #1D. Albeit an average one at best.

He didn't start off great last year. From what I remember he was average at the start of the season, then he had at least a month where he was really contributing. When he's getting shots through on net, we win. It's as simple as that.

 

[bobbythebrain]

"I'm glad I'm as important as McDavid to this team"(translated from Swedish)-Klefbom

 

[Psychoil]

Klefbom now ranks 3rd in the NHl for shots by a D with 37. Below him is Karlsson, Petro, Josi, Krug

Where'd you get that stat? That's not right

 

[Mc5RingsAndABeer]

"I'm glad I'm as important as McDavid to this team"(translated from Swedish)-Klefbom

I hope that's out of context. Sounds quite self absorbed.

 

[JayE]

I hope that's out of context. Sounds quite self absorbed.

It was said tongue in cheek if I remember correctly.

 

[thadd]

I hope that's out of context. Sounds quite self absorbed.

If he wasn't joking, jeez... I'd consider this thread a curse. The minute we create a thread about how good he's become and then next day he's looking to get paid 10M for his next contract. LOL

 

[McFlyingV]

If he wasn't joking, jeez... I'd consider this thread a curse. The minute we create a thread about how good he's become and then next day he's looking to get paid 10M for his next contract. LOL

Well he's gonna have to wait 7 years for that.

 

[bobbythebrain]

If he wasn't joking, jeez... I'd consider this thread a curse. The minute we create a thread about how good he's become and then next day he's looking to get paid 10M for his next contract. LOL

He said it in the summer and it was not intended to mean that. He was just overwhelmed by the response of fans and media to his importance on the team and their success while he was injured.

I was joking in that post. Klef was just trying to show his appreciation to the fans