Player Discussion Oscar Klefbom

A couple of seasons a go, Klefbom played like a top-10 defenceman.

Then he got injured and had surgery. After that he has never come close to that level.

What are your thoughts about him at this point?

A good #3?

 

He’s played good this year

 

When McDavid got injured? Klefbom's best hockey was during the playoff year when Connor didn't miss a game. He played like a Top 20-25 dman in the league.

He never played like he was a top 10 guy.

He's doing really well this season too.

 

My mistake!

I got it confused. People said that he was better than McDavid during a stretch.

 

He only had a strong stretch to end out the 2017 season into the playoffs. Other than that, he's been on and off. He needs to find his point shot again.

 

Well so far hes blown my expectation out of the water.

I still think hes a horrible PP player though.

 

He's what I consider a poor man's #2 or a rich man's #3. I'm really intrigued by the development of Nurse and Bouch. If they become a legit top pair, and we can hang on to Klef and Lars as a 2nd pair, we are in very good shape.

 

He never played like a top 10 D. I think deensively he’s playing the best he ever has right now. His offensive game is a big ? Though.

 

I think he was more important in 2015-16. When McDavid went down he was "only" a point per game player and they still had Hall, Draisaitl, Eberle and RNH. When Klefbom went down they had Sekera, Schultz at his lowest and rookie Nurse. McDavid was a better player but Klefbom was harder for the team to cover for.

 

I think this aswell, the team really fell off the rails when Klefbom went down.

 

Klef is a low-end #1 when he's healthy. His game is so quiet though that people don't appreciate how good his game is. He isn't nasty like Larsson, doesn't skate like Nurse and isn't a flashy offensive D, so he goes under the radar and people underappreciate his game and how effective he is night in and night out playing against the opposing team's top lines.

 

Beast mode defensively. Has been great so far this year. Looks like a solid 2/3. If he adds a few points he will cement a solid top pairing level of play.

Dont think he will ever be a number one but him and Larsson can certainly be a poor mans top pairing.

 

Looks like 2017 playoffs Klefbom. He was great again today.

 

Playing beastly minutes and has been great defensively. Would like to see him be better in the other teams zone.

 

Klefbom's in beast mode lately.

 

He is our no.1 D, maybe not an elite all-star no.1 D, but for us he's the closest we got right now. As Klefbom goes, so goes the team, I've been thinking that for a while.

15-16 Oilers - 14-15-2 with Klefbom healthy and that was with McDavid injured. You have to think if McDavid was healthy that record is probably more like 16-13-2.

16-17 Oilers - We know the record there.

17-18 Oilers - Injured again, terrible team.

18-19 Oilers - Healthy, team looks a lot better.

I don't even know what it is, but I think he impacts this team far more than Nurse or Larsson.

 

I don't know how you can say he isn't a #1 (or playing like a #1) when he's playing half the game and more than holding his own.

Klefbom and Larsson playing like a legitimate first pairing instead of a second pairing has been a huge development for the team. Hope they can keep it up.

 

I really wonder just how much Yawney has actually helped this blueline core. They have all been fantastic lately. Except for Benning.

 

Hes a great #3 or good #2 D. On the top pairing he cant carry the pairing, but if his partner is solid, theyll make a good top pairing. In 16/17 Larsson was solid, so that top pairing more than held their own. Lats year, Larsson and Klefbom both ran into injury issues and poor play, so Klefbom struggled (and Larsson vice versa). This year, with a stable partner hes back to looking good to great. Still one of the most underrated D in the league when hes on his game.

 

His intelligence and positioning is very underrated. With him playing insane minutes this year, I have seen him many times moderating his effort level on plays, which is only possible because he starts in very good position. He's a keeper.

 

He's beasting but I just wish he'd hit the net more.

 

Kid with huge potential but riddled with injury.

Considering his injury history it's amazing he is where he is:
12/13 (draft+1 season): SHL 11 GP ... injured shoulder in Nov, season over.
15/16: NHL 30 GP ... injury + staph infection in beginning December, season over.
17/18: NHL 66 GP ... playing through injury, fimally shut down in feb/march.

Three out of his 6 seasons post-draft have been ruined. He's been in edm for 5 out of those seasons but on played like e seasons equivalent of games.

When he is on he is easily a top pair D, and a pretty good one. On the ice results are pretty evident. Some will want their nastiness, booming shot, etc etc. Klefbom has a bit of everything which is his strenght imo.

Right now playing some damn good hockey, that's for sure.




That said, in my book Larsson is better

Who said that?

He left a bigger hole, but that was not because he was better. He even joked about it himself later (something that pissed off a lot of posters), he mentioned with a laugh that "apparently he was more important than McDavid" after some bloggers/journslists said that the team took a nose dive after they lost him. Truth was he left a bigger hole because 1) he was playing really good and 2) there was no depth on D at the time.

 

He has been better than a #3 so far this season....just look at the minutes he has played.
He is averaging 26 minutes TOI so far and he is crushing it.

So far this season he has been a top pairing Dman. He has never played better IMO.

 

Around 26 minutes for him again tonight IIRC, and he was excellent the entire time.

 

Despite the lack of offensive production, he's been amazing to start this season.