The Edmonton Oilers were truly hurt this season by a multitude of injuries to key players. None of which cost the Oilers as much at the 52 games missed by defenseman Oscar Klefbom.
To say that this season has been a tough one for Klefbom would be an understatement. After initially breaking a finger, in mid December, it was later revealed that he had contracted an infection in his foot, which nagged him for the rest of the season. Moreover, several times during his stint on the IR, it appeared as if he was close to a return, before setbacks derailed his progress.
All in all, before going down to injury, Klefbom had posted 12 points in 30 games, whic put him on a 33-point pace over a full 82-game season. That point total would have led the Oilers in points by a defensemen, an area that has been a weakness for the team for some time now. For an Oilers squad, lacking in blue line depth, a significant injury to their top blue liner was too much to handle.
To call Klefbom the Oilers best defenseman, is by no means a stretch. Taking a look at his Own The Puck “HERO” charts, across the board, Klefbom performs as a first-pairing defenseman. More impressive still, is that this chart measures the last three seasons for Klefbom and includes each of his only 107 NHL games. He may have room to grow yet.
For a franchise that has in recent years become enchanted with taking strong defensive defensemen in the draft along the lines of David Musil or Martin Gernat, a player with the offensive skills of Klefbom, is an important deviation from the norm.
As the power play struggled all season long, NHL analysts stressed the need for a big shot from the point to provide another scoring threat. Internally Klefbom is that solution and he was sorely missed as the season wore on.
Klefbom is also no slouch defensively either. Although still young and prone to the occasional defensive lapse, referring back to the HERO chart above, Klefbom suppresses shot attempts (CA60 RelTM) at an elite level.
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Focusing on this injury shortened season specifically, according to hockey-reference.com, in Klefbom’s 30 games played he posted a Fenwick for percentage relative percentage of 6.7, meaning that when he is on the ice, the team fares significantly better at unblocked shot attempts. This short sample is no oulier, Klefbom’s underlying analytics for his entire career have been strong.
I prefer using Fenwick over Corsi, as a method of evaluating defensemen, because it gives them credit for blocking shots, which although controversial, is demanded by coaches in today’s NHL. Regardless of what metric you prefer however, Klefbom’s underlying analytics, show him to clearly be the best Oilers defender.
With Klefbom in the lineup, the Oilers posted a record of 13-15-2, good for
28 points in 30 games. That is a record, one win away from the 82 point pace expected by Oilers GM, Peter Chiarelli. For comparisons sake, the Oilers were 18-28-6 after Klefbom went down to injury.
The Oilers are a better team with Klefbom. Klefbom is a legit NHL top pairing defensemen, although not a number one guy, 107 games in to his NHL career. Now if the Oilers can only teach him how to play right-handed.
Next: Edmonton Oilers Free Agent Tracker: D Korbinian Holzer
Other Notes
Due to the Oilers need for right shot defensemen, Klefbom’s name has come up in a potential trade for Hamonic. Not only would this make our left side significantly weaker, but Hamonic is simply not as good a defenseman as Klefbom, and the Oilers need to accumulate defensive assets, rather than trade them away. Hamonic should absolutely be a target for the Oilers this off-season, but not at the cost of Klefbom.