Klefbom could be done for season
Oilers to meet with injured blue-liner’s agent to decide on best course of action
Oscar Klefbom practised Monday after receiving a treatment believed to be a cortisone shot in his troublesome shoulder.
The Edmonton Oilers defenceman missed Saturday’s game against Minnesota and won’t play on Tuesday night in Calgary. Anything after that remains to be seen.
“There was no body contact or anything involved (in practice),” Oilers head coach Todd McLellan said. “And there’s a good chance that he’ll play Wednesday.”
It’s been a season-long struggle for Klefbom, whose production dipped to 19 points in 63 games after accumulating 38 points, including 12 goals, in 82 games last year. He’s been playing through the shoulder issue most of the season.
He wasn’t made available to the media after practice to discuss his situation, but it’s possible he could be done for the season.
Or not. It all depends on how the shoulder feels and what happens later this week during a summit meeting on the subject.
“The procedure will dictate further down the road what will happen,” said McLellan. “He and his agent and everybody else will participate in the decision. There’s nothing written in stone. There is a really good chance he’ll play the rest of the season, train in the summer, and come back.”
BEAR GETS THE FLAMES
Ethan Bear will get his first look at the Edmonton-Calgary rivalry from ice level Saturday, a nice little reward for the poise and progress he’s made since making his NHL debut five games ago.
“A lot of young players come in early with energy and excitement and perform really well, but it tends to fall off,” said McLellan.
“He hasn’t shown signs of that. We’re going to play against our rival in Calgary, and we’ll see how he responds in that game.”
It’s been so far so good for the 20-year-old defenceman, who was drafted in the fifth round in 2015. After going minus-3 in his first game, he went minus-1 with two assists in his next four and is looking more at home every night.
“He’s been looking calm out there,” said defenceman Adam Larsson. “It always depends on the personality, but he looks like he has that grounded, calm personality.”
Like all young defencemen, there are weaknesses in Bear’s game that need to be addressed, which is what the Oilers are doing right now.
“He’s getting there,” said McLellan. “He’s not hurting us a lot, but there are segments of his game that he has to work on. It’s interesting, because we’re talking about a guy who has played five games. We’ve got guys who have played 800 games who need to do that.
“But he’s a very fast learner. He has a high IQ and he picks things up quickly, so we think he can continue to improve.”
ABERG IN THE 'A’ SPOT
It’s not exactly like winning a lottery, but being promoted to Connor McDavid’s line is pretty close.
And recently acquired winger Pontus Aberg made enough of his golden ticket on Saturday that he’ll likely get another look there on Tuesday in Calgary.
“He played with a lot of fire in the first three games he was here but let the fourth one get away on him,” said McLellan. “After having a talk with him, and giving him a chance with Connor, I thought he performed fairly well.
“The thing he has is good smarts. And a shot. He’s willing to use it on Connor’s line. He wasn’t productive with it, but he did try to use it.”
Aberg hasn’t been here long enough, though, for the coaching staff to really figure him out as a player.
“It’s much too early to formulate a really strong opinion. We’ve got to let him play more games,” said McLellan. “We’ll see where’s he’s at after 10 games and we’ll have a better indication.”
While there has been juggling up and down the roster this season, the third line of Jesse Puljujarvi, Ryan Strome and Anton Slepyshev remains a constant lately.
When a line sticks together for more than a few games, it’s usually for one reason: “They’ve been productive,” said McLellan.
“They’ve created some chemistry. Jesse has played well on his off wing. He’s created a number of chances. Anton is playing with more confidence and it’s the best we’ve seen Ryan Strome play all year over the last three weeks to a month.
“What’s common is those three playing together. We’re not about to tinker and tear it apart.”