Oscar Klefbom comments returning to play with the Edmonton Oilers

Oilers fans have been left yearning for Oscar Klefbom since his career was tragically ended too early. He scarcely appears now, but yesterday made a comment on playing with the current Oilers.

Klefbom replied to a comment on Instagram that said «[Klefbom] and Bouchard would be amazing together» with a simple «I agree..»




On this year's Oilers squad accompanied by Mattias Ekholm and Evan Bouchard in their primes, Oscar Klefbom would be incredible top four defenceman for the team to this day. Even stylistically, his game would pair perfectly with Bouchard's, just like Ekholm has. Despite this comment, Klefbom clearly has no intention of making a comeback.

The Swedish defenceman was selected by the Oilers in the first round of the 2011 NHL draft, and Klefbom went on to become the best defenceman on some very poor Oilers teams. In the 2019-20, when he was just 27 years old, Klefbom was forced into retirement with a chronic arthritic shoulder.

Now just 30 years old, Klefbom is years removed from surgery but seemingly will never make a return to professional hockey. Last season, his contract of $4.167M expired, after he was already in practical retirement on the injured reserve. In very few interviews since, Klefbom outlined chronic pain affecting his daily life too much to continue to put himself through the physical rigour of the NHL.

It's tragic that Klefbom's career ended so early, and it's almost painful to think of how good the Oilers could be if he was still around - but it's great to see him still keeping up with the team, and even hoping he could still be out on the ice.