Edmonton Oilers

Oscar Klefbom Injured, Oilers Injuries Piling Up

The Edmonton Oilers revealed they will be without their No. 1 defenseman over the next few games as Oscar Klefbom has gone down with a shoulder injury and will miss 2-3 weeks worth of action.

by
NHL Trade Talk
February 18, 2020

The Edmonton Oilers revealed they will be without their No. 1 defenseman over the next few games as Oscar Klefbom has gone down with a shoulder injury and will miss 2-3 weeks worth of action.

#Oilers defenceman Oscar Klefbom will be out of action for two to three weeks with a shoulder injury. pic.twitter.com/8Hkz8kPIo5
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) February 18, 2020

This is not good news for the Oilers who will face the Boston Bruins on Wednesday and a hot Minnesota Wild team on Friday.

As Oilers Now host and color analyst for the Edmonton Oilers, Bob Stauffer reports, this could mean the Oilers are missing $33.5 million from their lineup considering names like Connor McDavid, James Neal, Kris Russell, Zack Kassian and others are still out.

Oilers will miss Klefbom who is playing 25 mins per game.

The Oilers could have 33.5M out of the line-up vs Boston:

Connor McDavid 12.50M
James Neal 5.75M
Oscar Klefbom 4.167M
Kris Russell 4.0M
Sam Gagner 3.15M
Zack Kassian 1.95M
Kyle Brodziak 1.15M
Joakim Nygard .925K https://t.co/F1PKWwIMI1
— Bob Stauffer (@Bob_Stauffer) February 18, 2020

Klefbom sits No. 5 on the NHL’s list of players with the most time-on-ice per game. He’s been averaging over 25 minutes per game and while others have stepped up on the blue line for the Oilers this season, this loss will sting. The team’s record since the start of the 2015-16 season with Klefbom in the lineup is 149-121-26 (90 pt pace). Without him things change dramatically as they post a record of 32-47-10 (68 pt pace).

Just Another Challenge for the Oilers

This will have to be viewed as just another hurdle for the Oilers who have successfully jumped most of their hurdles so far this season. Everyone figured the team would lose without McDavid, yet they’ve gone 3-1 since he’s been away. Others will assume this loss of Klefbom could mean disaster. It really just means players like Darnell Nurse, Ethan Bear, Adam Larsson and others have to step up.

It could mean a call-up from Bakersfield with either William Lagesson or someone else getting a call. Perhaps this is a time to give prospect Evan Bouchard a look, even if GM Ken Holland is hesitant to do so.