Though it hasn’t yet been confirmed, it looks as though Oscar Klefbom will not play in 2020-21.

That’s what Ken Holland is preparing for, at least. The Oilers’ general manager appeared on Oilers Now with Bob Stauffer and said that, while nothing has been set in stone, he’s operating under the assumption Klefbom won’t be available this season.

This isn’t breaking news by any stretch, but it does pretty much answer the looming question we all had about the status of Edmonton’s top defenceman. There had been some thought that even if Klefbom had surgery that he might be able to return later on in the season, but it appears as though that won’t be the case.

Hopefully, he has a successful surgery and is able to come back at 100 percent in 2021-22 and finally put this issue behind him.

Without Klefbom, Edmonton will rely on Darnell Nurse to slide up into the top-pairing role while Caleb Jones will also be expected to shoulder a larger job on the left side. This would be another reason why Holland would hang on to veteran defencemen Kris Russell and Adam Larsson rather than looking to move either player out as a cap dump.