The Maple Leafs, Oilers and Senators are among the five to seven teams that have expressed interest in signing unrestricted free agent defenseman John Klingberg, Darren Dreger of TSN reports Tuesday.
Klingberg, 32, has not played since hip resurfacing surgery capped his 2023-24 campaign with Toronto at 14 games. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reported last month that Klingberg was set to resume skating in Toronto after the holiday break and hoped to sign with a team for the rest of the season once he got back up to speed.
According to Dreger, Klingberg’s rehabilitation over the past couple of weeks has gone as planned. He still has a ways to go and needs another couple of weeks before he’ll be medically cleared to sign anywhere, but all signs point to him resuming his NHL career and doing so north of the border. The Canucks have also expressed interest in signing Klingberg but have done so to a lesser degree than their Canadian rivals, Dreger added.
Once one of the top power-play weapons in the league, the past few seasons have been tough on Klingberg. After operating at least at a 45-point pace in each of his first eight NHL seasons with the Stars, Klingberg wanted more money than Dallas was willing to offer him due to the emergence of Miro Heiskanen and he tested the open market in 2022 after completing a team-friendly seven-year, $29.75MM deal in Texas.
Klingberg severely misgauged his market, though. After sitting unsigned for weeks and changing his agents, he came to terms with the Ducks on a one-year deal worth $7MM.
Since doing so, Klingberg hasn’t been a reliable top-four option. He did average nearly 21 minutes per game in Anaheim, recording 24 points in 50 games before he was dealt to the Wild at the trade deadline, but did so on one of the worst defensive teams in league history. His even-strength minutes were slashed, although the Maple Leafs bet on him rebounding into at least a fringe top-four option when they signed him to another one-year deal the following summer.
Klingberg didn’t have a chance to prove very much, recording five assists and a minus-seven rating in 14 games before his hip issues shut him down for the remainder of the campaign. He underwent his resurfacing surgery in early December, and now over 13 months later, he’s back on the ice.
The Oilers have the biggest need for Klingberg’s services out of the three, and Edmonton is also where Klingberg’s stock stands to benefit the most. He would presumably remain relegated to a bottom-pairing role at even strength, but he would be an upgrade on their second power-play unit, at least offensively, over current point men Mattias Ekholm and Darnell Nurse. The chance to even sniff first power-play minutes and join a unit that’s clicking at nearly 25% would also boost his point totals and his market value heading into free agency again this summer, assuming he can stay healthy.