Edmonton Oilers: 5 players who must improve next season

4. Oscar Klefbom

To say Oscar Klefbom had a rough 2017-18 season is an understatement. Due to multiple injuries, borderline negligent deployment while injured, and lots of bad luck, the young Edmonton Oilers defenseman didn’t have the strong season they were expecting him to have.

In 66 games, Klefbom had 21 points. His 0.32 points per game rate was the lowest of his career. Klefbom saw a decrease in virtually all of his stats from 2016-17 to 2017-18.

As implied earlier, there’s a really good chance his struggles were related to outside circumstances that he couldn’t control. For example, is it Klefbom’s fault Edmonton’s goalies saved just 88.78 percent of the shots on goal when he was on the ice? Especially when he was a net gain as far as scoring chances, shot attempts, and even high-danger scoring chances?

Klefbom should be fully healthy going into the 2018-19 season, which is a good sign. The Oilers will need him to be at his best without Andrej Sekera. Klefbom, when healthy, has been excellent for Edmonton. They need him to shake off a forgettable 2017-18 campaign and prove why he’s one of the best young defensemen in the NHL.

On the bright side, all of the underlying numbers suggest Klefbom has what it takes to bounce back and return to his 2016-17 form.