"The Edmonton Oilers got their Swedish defenceman in the first round, but it was Oscar Klefbom not Adam Larsson, as they grabbed the abrasive Farjestads blue-liner at No. 19.

Klefbom is much more a project than the polished Larsson, who went fourth overall to the New Jersey Devils after the Oilers chose Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Klefbom is playing in the Swedish Elite league, too, but he's not a regular, even though he was captain of the Swedish under 18 team. He has two years left on his contract with league-champion Farjestads so won't be coming over any time soon, but he's what the Oilers need. A defender with some major bite.

"How would I describe myself? I think I'm a two-way defenceman, pretty good first pass, pretty good leadership," said Klefbom, whose ice-time with the powerful Farjestads team volleyed back and forth. He's got a lot of youthful exuberance, and was caught out of position at times, but the errors were of commission, not omission. He tries, hard, all the time.

"Some games I would play 15 minutes, some other games five, depended on the situation."

The Oilers had their eye on Duncan Siemens if they could move into the top 12, but couldn't and he went to Colorado at No. 11. They liked Jamie Oleksiak from Northeastern University in Boston, too. He went 14th.

"Who wouldn't like a guy who's six-foot-seven and can skate?" said Oilers chief scout Stu MacGregor. Another possibility puck-mover Nathan Beaulieu from the Memorial Cup champion Saint John Sea Dogs but he went 17th. They also had Vimy Ridge Academy centre Mark McNeill at about 19 but the Hawks got him at 18.

"We wanted to take a defenceman after taking the centre first," admitted said Oilers chief scout Stu MacGregor. "Especially one with size (six-foot-2- and 204 pounds). We tried to move up ... Steve was burning up the phone lines."

They liked Larsson, a lot. He could play right now and might for the Devils, while Klefbom is several years away."