On Aug. 20, just over four years after he last played in a game, Oscar Klefbom announced his retirement from the NHL. He had suffered from serious shoulder issues throughout his career, which ultimately forced the Swedish defenceman to hang up his skates.
While it is only just now official, the hockey world has long known that Klefbom would never play in the NHL again. He last suited up for a game during the 2020 postseason and had been a free agent since his contract with the Edmonton Oilers expired in 2023.
Still, that doesn’t make news of his retirement any easier to hear in Oil Country. Rather, it just reminds fans of all that could have been.
Klefbom Filled Important Role for Oilers
Klefbom will go down as one of the great “what ifs” in Oilers’ history. An impactful player who filled one of the most important roles on the team, Klefbom was robbed of his career by injury, and in his prime no less.
Selected 19th overall by Edmonton in the 2011 NHL Draft, Klefbom appeared in 378 games over seven seasons with the Oilers, from 2013-14 to 2019-20, totalling 34 goals and 122 assists. He added two goals and five assists in 16 postseason games.
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Klefbom was a two-time recipient of the Oilers Defenceman of the Year award, for the 2014-15 and 2016-17 seasons. For six straight seasons, from 2014-15 to 2019-20, he led the team in average time on ice (ATOI) while ranking first or second among Edmonton defencemen for points.
The Oilers have had some talented and effective blueliners, but often the greatest point producers are liabilities in their own zone, while the best shutdown men offer very little offensively. That wasn’t the case with Klefbom, who played very well at both ends of the ice.
Klefbom Was at His Best in Final Season
In 2019-20, Klefbom was one half of Edmonton’s top defensive pairing, alongside fellow Swede Adam Larsson, and played a whopping 25:25 per game, the sixth largest ATOI in franchise history. He was also part of the team’s top power-play and penalty-kill units.
That season, he averaged 2.90 blocks per game, which ranks second in franchise history, and led all Oilers defencemen in goals, assists, and points, as well as power-play goals, power-play assists, and power-play points. Suffice to say, he was immensely important to the Oilers. And he was only 26.
But Klefbom was chronically hindered by a shoulder injury he suffered years earlier before he even came to Edmonton while playing in the Swedish Elite League (SEL). It had reached a point where he couldn’t continue playing without something being done to address the issue. Then-Oilers general manager Ken Holland announced that Klefbom would miss the entire 2020-21 season. No one knew when or even if Klefbom would return to playing for the Oilers, and as it turned out, he wouldn’t.
Oilers Spent Years Trying to Replace Klefbom
For years, Holland tried for years to fill Klefbom’s void on the left side of the Oilers’ blueline, trading for Dmitry Kulikov, Duncan Keith, and Brett Kulak. Finally, on Feb. 28, 2023, Holland acquired Mattias Ekholm, who has been the top-pairing left-side blueliner that Edmonton was missing.
As the Oilers have pushed towards the brink of the Stanley Cup, but still haven’t been able to get their mitts on it, one can’t help but think about what if Edmonton had a healthy Klefbom in the lineup all these years. Even though the Oilers eventually got their man in Ekholm, the assets spent trying to procure a No. 1 left defenceman were costly and could have been applied towards building the team in other ways.
Klefbom was signed through 2022-23. He turned 30 in the summer of 2023 when he became a free agent. If the 6-foot-3 Swede was still able to play, he would have been in line for a nice contract, whether in Edmonton or elsewhere.
At the peak intersection of experience and ability, who knows how good Klefbom could have been? And who knows how good the Oilers could have been with a peak Klefbom in their lineup?
Even though his career was cut short, Klefbom still ranks among the Oilers’ all-time leaders for defenceman in many categories: 12th in goals, 11th in assists, 11th in points, 10th in power-play points, and fifth in game-winning goals. He also ranks fourth in blocked shots, which has been officially tracked since 2005.
Klefbom has settled back in Sweden now, but it would be a great gesture and special moment if, at some point during the coming season, the Oilers were to bring him to Edmonton, where the Rogers Place faithful could show their appreciation for the gifted defenceman.
