Former Oilers defenseman Oscar Klefbom, who hasn’t performed a sport since August 2020 as a result of a shoulder harm, has confirmed his retirement, via Rasmus Kagstrom of Hockey Sverige.
“It’s as it’s. I wasn’t fairly completed with hockey as a sport. However now it’s over,” Klefbom mentioned (translated from Swedish). “I’m very proud of my profession. I’m simply grateful that I obtained the possibility to play as many video games as I did — despite the fact that it was as an harm. I gained quite a lot of belief, obtained to participate in a unbelievable journey. There are actually two sides to the coin — as a result of though I’m grateful, I might have appreciated to be right here right this moment. On the ice. As a participant.”
Klefbom additionally confirmed he performed together with his eventual career-ending shoulder harm all through almost all of his seven-year NHL profession. Concerning the wait to formally announce his retirement, the 31-year-old mentioned: “It was a alternative I made. I talked to Edmonton that I needed to put very low with what was going to occur and what the state of affairs is. They have been completely ’wonderful’ with that. From my facet, it was additionally as a result of I assumed it was so tough to speak about it.”
For a quick time, Klefbom was one of many league’s premier two-way defenders. Chosen nineteenth total in 2011 out of Sweden’s Farjestad BK, Klefbom remained in his residence nation for 2 extra seasons earlier than making the bounce to North America in 2013-14.
He was largely an AHLer in his first season, suiting up in 48 contests for the Oklahoma Metropolis Barons. However he did get a style of NHL motion, posting three factors in 17 appearances. It wasn’t a lot of an impression, however he’d make a big bounce in his improvement within the 2014 offseason and have become a staple of the Oilers’ prime 4 in simply his second season within the system.
Klefbom would go on to play 378 video games in an Edmonton sweater, scoring 34 objectives and 122 assists for 156 factors (0.41 per sport). He had a profession -64 ranking, comprehensible for a participant routinely averaging north of twenty-two minutes per sport on an Oilers membership that solely made the playoffs twice in his tenure. His even-strength possession numbers on the entire have been optimistic, logging a 1.4 relative CF share and 50.1 xGF share at even energy, per Hockey Reference. He was a significant a part of Edmonton’s energy play and penalty kill models, particularly close to the top of his abbreviated profession.
The Karlstad native has been a UFA for over a 12 months after his seven-year, $29.17M contract with the Oilers expired in 2023. He spent the ultimate three seasons of the contract totally on long-term injured reserve.
Klefbom made clear in his interview that he desires to return to hockey in some capability, however whether or not that’s within the NHL or Sweden stays to be seen.
