If Oiler fans could use their collective willpower to make a prospect ready then Oscar Klefbom would already be a fixture on Edmonton's blueline. He's big, skates well, and came to North America with ringing endorsements from Management, yet despite that he just wasnt ready. Now, after months of seasoning in the American Hockey League, he has been recalled to the NHL on an Emergency basis.
In 45 AHL games he has just 1 Goal and 8 Assists so we should temper our expectations about his Offensive ability but at the same time Todd Nelson is on record saying he is playing his best hockey yet. Klefbom admitted that the transition to the North American game meant he had to speed up his decision making as the European game is about getting behind the net and slowing things down.
What the Oil have here, though, is a young, smart player with sublime physical tools. And, as we've seen from Martin Marincin, it is possible to take that leap from the AHL and perform well in the NHL. Unfortunately though, the young Oiler D-man will have to wait a little bit longer to play his first NHL game barring a last minute change.
He was recalled along with Anton Lander because of illness and injury in the lineup, but this morning the Coach has said those issues seem to have cleared up. Klefbom was in this situation once already this season so this must be a little heartbreaking, but he will get his shot eventually. Its just a matter of when.
I'm not sold that he makes the Oilers out of camp next year without playing a significant number of the remaining games this year. I'm not sure why the coach values Fraser ahead of Klefbom but if he cant crack THIS Oiler defense then more time is probably required.
LINEUPS
The Oilers are sticking with the same lineup as the last game and with Scrivens in net to face his old team. Eakins did make a few line changes that you can see below. It looks like he wants to get Hall and Gagner playing together, which is a combination that I kind of like.
Yak RNH Eberle Hall Gagner Perron Hendricks Gordon Joensuu Gazdic Smyth Jones
Ference Schultz Marincin Petry Fraser Larsen
Scrivens
OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME
1) Did You Set your Clocks Ahead? Is it possible to convince the Oilers to set their clocks TWO hours ahead? I am absolutely sick of writing about slow starts, but they consistently take the first half of games off. At some point there has to be a wake up call for this group. Once in a while is understandable. All the time is unprofessional.
2) Power Play Problems. Smyth scored his record tying goal on the PP to pass Gretzky with Gretzky in the house, but I'm not talking about the goals the Oilers are scoring on the PP. I'm talking about the ones they give up. This 1-3-1 setup that Eakins is convinced is difficult to defend against adds no perceivable Offensive advantage but sure creates a lot of odd-man rushes against. The best chances created on the PP are by the opposition. Eakins needs to answer for that.
3) Structure. At this point I'm resigned to the fact that the Oilers dont have any in their game. I get it. We're 65 games in. If it isnt there by now then it just isnt happening, but the Kings do play with structure. They are always on the right side of the puck and play as a 5 man unit all the time. I anticipate Scrivens will be peppered with shots as the Oil break down in the neutral zone.
Puck drops at 6:08PM Mountain Time on Sportsnet. Game On!
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