Top 100 Oilers: No. 48 — Oscar Klefbom

Notable

During the Oilers’ Decade of Darkness, it was rare for the team to have more than one first-round pick. They had three in 2007, and originally two in 2015 before trading the 16th overall pick away. The other time the Oilers had two first round picks was in 2011.

With the first overall pick, they drafted Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, a selection that has worked out well for them. The other first that year was used to select Klefbom with the 19th overall pick. Klefbom, a Swedish left-shot defenceman who played for Färjestad BK, didn’t come to North America until 2013-14, when he played 48 games with the American Hockey League’s Oklahoma City Barons.

That same season, Klefbom made his National Hockey League debut, scoring a goal and three points in 17 games. After nine games with the Barons in 2014-15, Klefbom finally became a NHL regular, scoring two goals and 20 points in 60 games that season. Due to injuries, Klefbom dressed in just 30 games during the 2015-16 season, scoring four goals and 12 points in those 30 games.

Finally, the 2016-17 season saw Klefbom play all 82 games, scoring a career-best 12 goals and 38 points in 82 games, along with two goals and five assists in 12 playoff games. His strong play helped the Oilers end the Decade of Darkness, and he even scored the first playoff goal for the Oilers in nearly 11 years.

The Oilers regressed in both 2017-18 and 2018-19, as the left-shot defenceman scored five goals and 21 points in 66 games during the 2017-18 season, and five goals and 28 points in 61 games in 2018-19. Klefbom remained relatively healthy for the 2019-20 season, scoring five goals and 34 points in 62 games, missing a total of nine games.

In March, the league was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with play resuming later that summer. It wasn’t known at the time, but those four games against the Chicago Blackhawks would be Klefbom’s final games before retiring. At the end of his contract, Klefbom announced his retirement at the age of 31 years old, having not played since he was 27 years old.

The story

The story of Klefbom’s career was injuries and what could’ve been if he didn’t have a chronic shoulder injury. When healthy, Klefbom was a minute-munching top four defenceman that could chip in on the scoresheet.

It’s no coincidence that his two healthiest seasons, 2016-17 and 2019-20, were the two times from 2006-07 until 2020-21 that the Oilers made the playoffs. His inability to play hampered the Oilers’ defence core for numerous seasons to come.

In an ideal world, Klefbom would still be dressing in games for the Oilers in a top four role, but life isn’t always fair. Over the past couple of years, the retired defenceman has made sporadic appearances, whether that be on the jumbotron during the 2024 postseason, or in person toward the end of the 2024-25 regular season.

Still, it’ll always be bittersweet to think about what could’ve been had Klefbom stayed healthy.

What Brownlee said…

Then, there’s Klefbom. Now entering his primetime playing years at the age of 24, he has gone from being a secondary piece in the Penner trade and second-banana on his draft day to developing into the bonafide No. 1 D-man the Oilers have been lacking for what seems like forever. The big lad from Karlstad with a head for the game and that booming shot from the point is an afterthought no more.

Slowed by injuries, including a nasty staph infection, during his first three seasons, there were more than a few questions about Klefbom – at least his ability to stay healthy and how that might impact his development – during that stretch. A lot of that went away last season when Klefbom played all 82 games for the Oilers in their top pairing, a campaign in which he had 12-26-38 and finished fifth in Lady Byng Trophy voting with just six PIM.

The Oilers have been up and down in the early going and so has Klefbom. It hasn’t helped the blueline group that Andrej Sekera has been out, but those are the cards that have been dealt. Maybe GM Pete Chiarelli looks for some help before Sekera gets back if the team doesn’t get untracked, but he need not cast any glances at his first pairing. There’s not a problem there.

So, how good can Klefbom be? Is there more top-end in him? On the first count, I don’t know the answer. On the second, my eyes tell me the answer is yes. What I do know is that it’s going to be fun finding out as this season unfolds and the Oilers get things straightened out — as I expect they will. An afterthought no more, this kid.

– October 27th, 2017

The Last 10

• No. 57 — Boris Mironov
• No. 56 — Mike Comrie
• No. 55 — Fernando Pisani
• No. 54 — Jeff Beukeboom
• No. 53 — Martin Gelinas
• No. 52 — Blair MacDonald
• No. 51 — Ethan Moreau
• No. 50 — Stuart Skinner
• No. 49 — Janne Niinimaa
• No. 48 — Jason Arnott