More bad news on the injury front for the Edmonton Oilers. The club announced on Tuesday that defenseman Oscar Klefbom will miss 2-3 weeks with a shoulder injury. Edmonton will be missing their top defensemen for the start of the stretch drive.
Klefbom has played in 59 games this season for the Oilers and has 33 points (5-28-33) while averaging 25:36 per game, per hockey-reference. Klefbom has a 46.4% Corsi For % on the season and a 48.1% Fenwick For. He’s anchored a pairing recently with fellow veteran Swede Adam Larsson.
Klefbom’s injury puts a dent in the Oilers playoff hopes. He is currently the team’s best defenseman and a key part of both the penalty kill and the powerplay. In addition, he plays an extremely important role at five-on-five.
Klefbom was not placed on injured reserve by the club, and no recall from AHL Bakersfield has been made at this time. Darnell Nurse, Caleb Jones and William Lagesson remain on the roster as left-shot options for Dave Tippett.
Klefbom has not played 82 games in a season since 2016-17. A season ago, Klefbom appeared in 61 games. Prior to that, in 2017-18, he played in just 66 games.
Klefbom has a career-high 172 blocked shots, most on the Oilers.
The Oilers are already without veteran defenseman Kris Russell (concussion) and forwards James Neal (foot), Connor McDavid (quad) and Joakim Nygard (hand). Zack Kassian is currently serving a seven game suspension.
More to come as it happens.
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