• Redline Report: Klefbom is a real Red Line favorite.
  He’s certainly the most overlooked of the top prospects, but is the best pure
  passer of the bunch, and his skating ranks only behind Murphy. He already makes
  pro style passes — crisp and with touch — and excels at breaking the trap with
  tremendous stretch passes through the neutral zone, showing great vision. He was
  also the natural leader on Sweden’s national under-18 team. All this comes
  wrapped in a 6-3, 196-pound package, and Klefbom has really stepped up the
  physical aspect of his game over the last 12 months. At Red Line, we believe he
  might ultimately become the best all-around balance of offensive upside and
  physical strength in this year’s class.
• TSN (Grant McCagg): Captained Sweden to a silver medal
  at the U-18 championships, and appeared in 23 games for Farjestad in the SEL at
  17 years of age. His stock rose as the season went on, culminating with his
  strong play at the U-18′s. Strengths – High character player who did it all for
  Sweden at the U-18′s, considered a warrior with tremendous leadership qualities.
  Good size and strength, reads the play well and will jump into the rush, good
  vision and passing skills, good compete level, likes to play physically.
  Weaknesses – Has a clumsy skating style, needs to work on quickness and lower
  body strength. NHL Upside – May develop into a top three NHL defenceman who
  takes care of his own end and sees some time on the second powerplay unit.
• Corey Pronman: “Oscar Klefbom is a very toolsy
  defensive prospect with considerable upside if everything goes right. He’s an
  above-average skater who at times flashes plus. Klefbom gets up to top speed
  very quickly with a powerful stride which lets him take off and jump into the
  rush and get back into defensive position if the play gets behind him. Klefbom’s
  puck skills are solid-average as he can carry the puck at a notable level when
  moving at top speed. He’s a decent passer, and while he has the potential to be
  an above-average distributor, the hockey sense and vision doesn’t seem to be
  there enough for him to be that player. He has a decent shot, although I haven’t
  noticed much bad or good in that aspect of his game. Klefbom has a good frame
  that has filled out nicely for a player born in late July at around 6’3″, 200
  lbs., but he doesn’t really use his body much from a physical perspective though
  he can win some battles. I’ve also seen him make bad decisions when being
  physically pressured. Hockey sense is Klefbom’s major liability as it grades
  from 35-40. He doesn’t see the ice well, takes too long with decisions, his
  defensive game is suspect and he can get too overzealous at times with his
  offensive rushes and pinches.”
• Kirk Luedeke: “Sweden’s top puck rusher is Brodin’s
  teammate in Farjestad and is a much flashier prospect because he zooms up the
  ice like he’s been shot from a cannon, fires the puck hard and plays a more
  aggressive, dynamic style. He may not be Brodin’s equal defensively or even in
  how he processes and thinks the game, but we love the way he activates at the
  right time and will jump into the play. When he’s on his game, he will attack
  defenses with speed and can gain the zone on his own. He instinctively sees the
  shooting lanes opening up and takes advantage- he’s not afraid to get the puck
  on net and likes to hammer it at the goalie as much as he can. Klefbom does have
  the vision and hands to hit his teammates with passes. If teams are looking for
  a defender who loves to rush the puck over your more classic puck mover, than
  Klefbom is their guy.”

You can see why the Oilers liked Klefbom, he’s a “perfect fit” for an
organization that badly needs defenders with size, speed and a wide range of
skills.

• Stu
  MacGregor: “A big, great skating defenseman. A solid, two-way
  guy who moves the puck intelligently and competes really hard. We were really
  pleased he was there (with the 19th pick). We wanted to get a
  defenseman, especially one with size who can move.”

He was listed as 6.03, 203 around draft day, which is a good size for an
18-year old defender. Klefbom served notice with an effective 2010 Ivan Hlinka
and then delivered well in all areas during his draft season (10-11)

• SEL 23, 1-1-2 8:50TOI
• WJ 6, 1-3-4

This year, Klefbom has been playing a little more in the SEL per game and
hasn’t yet registered a point. Klefbom has posted crooked numbers at lower
levels this season:

• SEL 14, 0-0-0 11:19TOI
• J20 10, 0-3-3

He’s back playing again and he’s likely to play a big role for Sweden at the
WJ’s over Christmas. Oiler fans will get a chance to see him play up close, and
get an idea about how the rangy blueliner goes about his business.

With Klefbom’s skills and ability to push the puck up the ice expertly, it
isn’t out of the question to project him as a 20 point NHL defender eventually.
Should he earn a powerplay opportunity, that number would of course matriculate
northward.

Oscar Klefbom has been injured three times since September 1st. Martin
Lunden gave us the details on the first injury:

• Klefbom was unlucky enough to get cut on his thigh by an ice skate, the
  wound was sewn with ten stitches, and when the stitches were removed there was
  an infection. Now Klefbom is on penicillin which also prohibits him from
  playing.

This was followed by a head injury during a rough practice a couple of weeks
later. Again Lunden gives
us the information:

• Klefbom got a shoulder-tackle to his chin (during a tough practice four
  days ago) which caused him losing his helmet and bumping his head on the ice
  without protection and suspicions were that the hit might have left Klefbom with
  a concussion.

As it turned out, Klefbom was fine. However, in mid-November Klefbom did
sustain a concussion in a game against Russia. Lunden
was on top of this story as well, via Finnish report Sami Hoffrén.

• Klefbom was hit to the head by a Russian forward and he had to leave the
  game. Didn’t play in the tournament after that hit. I assume Klefbom suffered a
  concussion.

He’s back in action now. However, after suffering at least one concussion I’d
say that injuries are enough of a concern for us to consider Klefbom less of a
“blue chip” prospect than he was on draft day. Still the best defenseman in the
system, and the concussion isn’t a giant cloud over his future.

It is a down arrow. That’s why he’s #3 this time.