Edmonton Oilers defenceman John Klingberg has finally been cleared from his injury, but will still find himself in the press box as a healthy scratch down the stretch.
Klingberg was signed mid-season as the Oilers were hopeful he could regain his game as a top 4 defender, but his defensive weaknesses seem too bad to overlook.
John Klingberg cleared to play, but won't be in Oilers lineup often
According to a new update from Jason Gregor, Klingberg has been cleared to play after sustaining an injury blocking a shot, but he will have to battle Troy Stecher and Ty Emberson for the final defence spot.
Klingberg last played on March 4th against the Anaheim Ducks, missing a full three weeks with this lower body injury.
The 32 year old defenceman was signed to a one-year, $1.7M contract after missing the last 2 seasons, and still has only played 10 games with the Oilers. Klingberg's registered 1 goal and 4 points with a +2 rating - but the defensive stats below the surface are very concerning.
Klingberg can still make a good pass, but his poor defensive play makes him a non-option for the Oilers especially while the goaltending isn't likely to bail them out with big saves.
Troy Stecher and Ty Emberson will be battling for final playoff defence spot
Considering the lack of games played and poor defence from John Klingberg, it'll be Emberson or Stecher getting the first shot during the playoffs.
At the moment Stecher is running with the job over Emberson. The younger defender has only played 95 NHL games while Stecher has put together a long career of 550 games and 21 playoff games. The veteran option is probably more preferable to the coach, and Stecher has outperformed Emberson lately.
However, this really shows that the Oilers have great defensive depth heading in to the playoffs this year. If any player drops his level of play or gets hurt, the Oilers will have adequate replacements waiting in the wings.
