Oilers defenceman dealing with chronic arthritis, contemplating surgery
Early last week, reports came out that Edmonton Oilers defenceman Oscar Klefbom battled injuries for the majority of the 2019-20 season and may have to get surgery as a result.
Today, TSN's Darren Dreger made that possibility seem very likely, saying that Klefbom is currently receiving treatment in Sweden and that surgery will likely be the end result. He also mentioned that regardless of whether or not he does end up having surgery, the recovery process will be extremely lengthy, meaning he will likely miss a large portion of the 2020-21 season.
While it hasn't been confirmed by Klefbom or anyone representing him, Edmonton Oilers reporter Jason Gregor came out with an article on Monday saying that the Swedish blueliner has chronic arthritis that has been bugging him for years. Due to it being arthritis rather than an injury such as a seperated shoulder or something in that nature, surgery may not be an easy fix. There isn't a guarantee it would help the problem, and the concern for Klefbom is that surgery could actually make it worse.
This is very tough news for the Oilers, as Klefbom is their top defenceman when healthy. Unfortunately, he has struggled with injuries his entire career. In fact, the only season he was able to play in all 82 games was the 2016-17 season, which non-coincidentally saw them make the postseason for the first time in over a decade. If he is to miss a large amount of time, general manager Ken Holland will likely have to look for a replacement for the 27-year-old.
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Nathan MacKinnon | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Martin Necas | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Conor Garland | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Kyle Connor | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Filip Chytil | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Cale Makar | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Mason Appleton | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Thomas Chabot | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Warren Foegele | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nils Hoglander | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jack Hughes | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Adrian Kempe | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Artturi Lehkonen | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Casey Mittelstadt | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Logan O'Connor | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Cole Perfetti | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Mark Scheifele | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Quinton Byfield | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ross Colton | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Dylan DeMelo | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 59 | 42 | 14 | 3 | 87 | |
Capitals | 58 | 38 | 12 | 8 | 84 | |
Stars | 58 | 37 | 19 | 2 | 76 | |
Maple Leafs | 58 | 36 | 20 | 2 | 74 | |
Golden Knights | 58 | 34 | 18 | 6 | 74 | |
Panthers | 59 | 35 | 21 | 3 | 73 | |
Oilers | 58 | 34 | 20 | 4 | 72 | |
Wild | 58 | 34 | 20 | 4 | 72 | |
Kings | 56 | 31 | 17 | 8 | 70 | |
Lightning | 57 | 33 | 20 | 4 | 70 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||