Speculation: Oscar Klefbom

[TFHockey]

Hi fellow Oiler fans, does anyone know the status of Oscar Klefbom? I was listening to the free agent frenzy on TSN 1260 and one of the pundits questioned whether or not Klefbom would be back this year. They mentioned something about him still having difficulty skating.

Is this true or just more rumor nonsense ?

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[StupidGenius]

Last I'd heard, the only thing impeding his skating was finding an appropriate boot for him. There was mention in the infirmary thread that Klefbom is expecting no issues with skating over the summer, and should be just fine for the fall.

Unless something has changed recently, it might just be people parroting incorrect or old information.

 

[ohheyhemsky]

I'm convinced he's dead at this point.

It was a hologram during the Farewell Rexall ceremony.

 

[KidAnger]

Last I heard he was skating in Edmonton prior to the draft and Benson was skating with him.

Also know he's been playing golf in Edmonton (from his Instagram)

 

[CrazyJoeDavola]

Yeah, I'm kind of scared he's going to be a shell of himself for the rest of the career (Whitney, anybody?). That most of the people here are slotting him on the top pairing after barely playing at all last year is ridiculous. Expecting the worst unfortunately...

 

[thadd]

Last I heard he was skating in Edmonton prior to the draft and Benson was skating with him.

Also know he's been playing golf in Edmonton (from his Instagram)

Yup I remember at the draft Benson mentioned that he wasn't all that surprised that Edmonton picked him because they were in contact with him and he was skating with Klefbom.

 

[KidAnger]

Yeah, I'm kind of scared he's going to be a shell of himself for the rest of the career (Whitney, anybody?). That most of the people here are slotting him on the top pairing after barely playing at all last year is ridiculous. Expecting the worst unfortunately...

Big difference between Whitney and Klefbom.

Whitney was a birth defect that affected his bones in his foot/ankle. Klefbom said himself, the only issue is the skin being thin in the area and his skate rubbing.

They were going to take the summer and try out a bunch of skate boots to find the best fit going forward to fix the rubbing issue.

 

[CrazyJoeDavola]

Big difference between Whitney and Klefbom.

Whitney was a birth defect that affected his bones in his foot/ankle. Klefbom said himself, the only issue is the skin being thin in the area and his skate rubbing.

They were going to take the summer and try out a bunch of skate boots to find the best fit going forward to fix the rubbing issue.

Sure. But missed 3/4 of a season as well as can't skate all summer? I fear he's going to look really bad to start the year. Hoping he can shake off the rust, but we're essentially losing close to year of his development and still hoping he's a top pairing dman next year.

 

[KidAnger]

Sure. But missed 3/4 of a season as well as can't skate all summer? I fear he's going to look really bad to start the year. Hoping he can shake off the rust, but we're essentially losing close to year of his development and still hoping he's a top pairing dman next year.

He's been skating this summer.

And it was stated by him multiple times that he would have played at the end of the year of it meant anything. I don't think you rush a guy with staph infection, it's not a sprain.

 

[48g90a138pts]

An ongoing issue with Klefbom is the last thing the Oilers need.

 

[McDynasty]

Stauffer interviewed him awhile back and it answered a lot of questions I had about his injury. What I do know is he's been working out like mad, and kept in great shape while he was not playing. Like hitting the gym and bike hard.

The effected area on his skin needed time to heal, and that required him not to skate at all until this happened. Also he was going to meet with his skate company over the summer and design a skate that wont chaff on the effected area. His return last season was postponed cause that area of skin needed time to thicken and playing hockey was not going to help it. This injury he had did not do anything to his ankle muscles, so comparisons to Whitney are not accurate, the only thing that was keeping him back was the thickness of the skin they gouged out when they cut out the Staph infection.

My guess Oscar will be back this season better than ever.

 

[McSpecial DraiBlend]

Stauffer interviewed him awhile back and it answered a lot of questions I had about his injury. What I do know is he's been working out like mad, and kept in great shape while he was not playing. Like hitting the gym and bike hard.

The effected area on his skin needed time to heal, and that required him not to skate at all until this happened. Also he was going to meet with his skate company over the summer and design a skate that wont chaff on the effected area. His return last season was postponed cause that area of skin needed time to thicken and playing hockey was not going to help it. This injury he had did not do anything to his ankle muscles, so comparisons to Whitney are not accurate.

My guess Oscar will be back this season better than ever.

Pretty sure Chia said if they were in a playoff hunt Oscar would have returned.
They obviously weren't so they shut him down completely.

 

[ohheyhemsky]

Stauffer interviewed him awhile back and it answered a lot of questions I had about his injury. What I do know is he's been working out like mad, and kept in great shape while he was not playing. Like hitting the gym and bike hard.

The effected area on his skin needed time to heal, and that required him not to skate at all until this happened. Also he was going to meet with his skate company over the summer and design a skate that wont chaff on the effected area. His return last season was postponed cause that area of skin needed time to thicken and playing hockey was not going to help it. This injury he had did not do anything to his ankle muscles, so comparisons to Whitney are not accurate, the only thing that was keeping him back was the thickness of the skin they gouged out when they cut out the Staph infection.

My guess Oscar will be back this season better than ever.

I thought his leg kept filling up with fluid?

 

[Mcnofool6110]

Hi fellow Oiler fans, does anyone know the status of Oscar Klefbom? I was listening to the free agent frenzy on TSN 1260 and one of the pundits questioned whether or not Klefbom would be back this year. They mentioned something about him still having difficulty skating.

Is this true or just more rumor nonsense ?

Oh dear lord, thats exactly what we need.

 

[Mc5RingsAndABeer]

I thought his leg kept filling up with fluid?

My understanding was that the skin kept opening up and getting infected. I don't think it affected his muscles other than atrophy from bring off of it for so long.

 

[McFlyingV]

My understanding was that the skin kept opening up and getting infected. I don't think it affected his muscles other than atrophy from bring off of it for so long.

I don't think it affected his conditioning at all. The way they made it sound was like the wound was higher up on his ankle so he should have been fine to work out in shoes and by his own accounts he was in the best shape of his life.

 

[snipes]

My understanding was that the skin kept opening up and getting infected. I don't think it affected his muscles other than atrophy from bring off of it for so long.

I don't think it affected his conditioning at all. The way they made it sound was like the wound was higher up on his ankle so he should have been fine to work out in shoes and by his own accounts he was in the best shape of his life.

For what it's worth, I have a good friend who is a doctor and I asked him about staph infections. He told me they are very common and with the proper antibiotics and medical attention a person can 100% recover from having one. His response seemed like it was not a big deal.

I explained Klef's situation (non-hockey fan), he said not to worry. Staph infections are very treatable with modern medicine and the extra precautions the Oilers took were above and beyond standard protocol. Maybe that will help ease some concerns hopefully.

 

[CrazyJoeDavola]

I don't think it affected his conditioning at all. The way they made it sound was like the wound was higher up on his ankle so he should have been fine to work out in shoes and by his own accounts he was in the best shape of his life.

His conditioning is going to be affected just by the fact he hasn't played an NHL game since last year. He obviously still can't do full ice workouts. Just by the very nature of the injury and being away we've lost almost a year of his development. Regardless of whether or not the ankle was affected, it's still serious staph infection and if it comes back up again he'll likely never be able to play high level hockey for quite some time (if ever).

I don't buy the "come back stronger than ever" when he hasn't played a single game since last year. I also don't buy the fact that he would've come back if we had something to play for. We had everything to play for - him developing into a bonafide 1st line dman. He was shut down because he still couldn't skate properly.

 

[CrazyJoeDavola]

For what it's worth, I have a good friend who is a doctor and I asked him about staph infections. He told me they are very common and with the proper antibiotics and medical attention a person can 100% recover from having one. His response seemed like it was not a big deal.

I explained Klef's situation (non-hockey fan), he said not to worry. Staph infections are very treatable with modern medicine and the extra precautions the Oilers took were above and beyond standard protocol. Maybe that will help ease some concerns hopefully.

Did he also explain that staph infections can lead to amputations and death, even when precautions and modern medicine involved? The dude missed 50 games here; this was as serious as it gets.

 

[McFlyingV]

I'm really not concerned tbh lol. These doomsday threads seem to pop up every so often on here so they're kind of comical especially with how some people were acting like he was going to lose his leg last year. Staph infections can be very serious, but by all accounts that have been given on Klefbom it never progressed into anything serious and was just in a tricky spot for him to make it work with a skate. I don't expect Oscar to miss a beat aside from maybe a little rust, but hopefully he can shake that off in preseason and hit the ground running with Larsson. A Swedish twin tower pairing is what dreams are made of.

 

[snipes]

Did he also explain that staph infections can lead to amputations and death, even when precautions and modern medicine involved? The dude missed 50 games here; this was as serious as it gets.

Yes. Hence why the skin/flesh was removed I would imagine.

 

[CrazyJoeDavola]

I'm not trying to be all doomsday here. I just don't think it's realistic to expect he's going to slot into a top line role to start the year and flourish. I think we're in for a rude awakening come October but I hope I'm wrong.

 

[snipes]

I'm not trying to be all doomsday here. I just don't think it's realistic to expect he's going to slot into a top line role to start the year and flourish. I think we're in for a rude awakening come October but I hope I'm wrong.

Disagree.

Klef has all of the physical tools plus high hockey IQ. The eye test matches the advanced analytics.

Look for him to take off with Larsson. Klefbom has #1 potential, with a defensive stalwart like Larsson I can see Klefbom having the confidence to just play his game and not think. Can't wait.

 

[Blitzago*]

Disagree.

Klef has all of the physical tools plus high hockey IQ. The eye test matches the advanced analytics.

Look for him to take off with Larsson. Klefbom has #1 potential, with a defensive stalwart like Larsson I can see Klefbom having the confidence to just play his game and not think. Can't wait.

Klef take's such good care of his body, I have no doubt he will still be in great shape, from what ive heard hes a machine in the gym.

I think he has #1 aswell, him and larsson are gonna form a great pairing for the next however many years.

 

[Hynh]

I also don't buy the fact that he would've come back if we had something to play for. We had everything to play for - him developing into a bonafide 1st line dman.

Players don't play through injuries for "development". Name me one instance where the team decided to keep a player from being shutdown solely because of his development and not because of the team's performance.

Be an ankle truther all you want but don't be so "truther-y" about it.