BLUE RARE
By Lowetide
7 years agoOn the night of Oscar Klefbom’s NHL debut in Minnesota, Wild fans were saluting Matt Cooke on the night of his 1,000 game. Without putting too fine a point on it, this was a clear case of beauty and the beast. We are 129 games into Klefbom’s career now, and it looks like he may have another gear.
Any fool can see Oscar Klefbom has all of the tools to be a successful NHL defender. He is not a shy violet in terms of physical play, his mobility allows him to close a gap in a heartbeat, and he displays an aptitude for the game that shows up with smart passes and a healthy amount of caution with or without the puck.
Oscar has been in the NHL coming up on two seasons worth of games now, and there is some evidence of an offensive gear. We have seen flashes of it in past seasons, but the young man keeps getting hurt—and the boxcars never look fabulous without a giant number in the GP department.
FIRST ASSISTS
Measuring offense from the blue line is very difficult, because second assists on passes in the defensive zone count but are not especially instructive in sussing out actual ability. Here are Klefbom’s 5×5 points by year:
- 2013-14 (17 games) 1 goal, 1 first assist, 1 second assist.
- 2014-15 (60 games) 2 goals, 4 first assists, 10 second assists
- 2015-16 (30 games) 4 goals, 4 first assists, 1 second assist
- 2016-17 (22 games) 3 goals, 2 first assists, 1 second assist
With the exception of his rookie season (2014-15), Klefbom appears to be a player who can actually contribute offensively. It seems to me we may be looking at a defender who can deliver offensively, but that ability has been obscured (so far) due to injury (and by the Swedish assist police before he got to North America).
5X5 60
Klefbom’s 5×5/60 total is also a clear indication we are dealing with someone of note offensively. Here are his annual marks, and the ranking among NHL defenders (regulars):
- 2013-14: 0.74/60 (Klefbom was not a regular)
- 2014-15: 0.85/60 (ranked No. 45 among NHL regulars)
- 2015-16: 1.09/60 (ranked No. 18 among NHL regulars/semi-regulars)
- 2016-17: 0.96/60 (ranked No. 32 among NHL regulars)
- Source
These are good numbers, remember this is 5×5 play. Oscar Klefbom brings all kinds of things to the game, but if he can post 30+ points a season while being an effective defenseman, the Edmonton Oilers will have drafted and developed a complete defenseman.
Folks, there haven’t been many in the history of this franchise.
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