Why Klingberg is worthwhile gamble for Oilers

EDMONTON — In John Klingberg, the Edmonton Oilers have perhaps — and we stress perhaps — found the right-shot, top-four defenceman they have sought all season. Without parting with an asset to acquire him.

Their cost is cap space — $1.74 million, or about half of that, depending on Evander Kane’s injury status — at a level that is worth the gamble.

In this 32-year-old Swede, the Oilers may — and we stress, may — be the lucky recipients of a healed player whose aching hips have in recent seasons relegated his defensive game to somewhere between pedestrian and egregious. Klingberg had the same hip resurfacing surgery that Patrick Kane and Jesse Puljujarvi had, a warning/metaphor for where a player’s career can go post-surgery.

“They’ve felt better than they’ve ever felt,” said Oilers general manager Bowman, who would prefer to reference Kane in this discussion, of course. “When I sat down and talked to him, he explained to me the sort of pain that he was in the last couple years, just trying to be able to be good enough to play games. It’s impacted his effectiveness.

“He said that he hasn’t felt this good time in 12 years, as far as his mobility, no pain, and being able to (play hockey),” Bowman said. “When you look at it through that lens, (the question becomes) if he’s playing his best, what does that look like and how would it help us? I think that’s how you’ve got to evaluate this.”

Truly, it is the only way to evaluate this acquisition. Because in the seven-week test drive heading up to the Trade Deadline, the Oilers will either find out that they have the D-man they seek, or they’ll demote Klingberg and trade for one.

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So, who is John Klingberg?

He hails from beautiful Gothenburg, Sweden, the same city that gave us Daniel Alfredsson, Calle Johansson, Lucas Raymond, the great Jorgen Pettersson and many others.

In his second NHL contract, he signed a $4.25 million AAV, seven-year deal that eventually left him underpaid in the eyes of many. That led to turning down a lucrative, long-term deal in Dallas, which was followed by non-productive one year deals with non-productive teams in Anaheim and Toronto.

Today, at age 32, his skills may suit the game even more than when he was 22. The only question is, how sharp are those skills, and can they be retrieved?

“In my time here … we have a good history of getting the most out of players that struggled elsewhere. Players have been able to come in here and be effective, and that bodes well for John,” said Bowman.

His philosophy on the signing is interesting:

“I want to accentuate the strength of our team, which is our forward group. Not to disparage our D-corps, but we’re not a team that just shuts you down and wins 1-0. That’s not how we’re built.

“So, let’s try to make the players we have even better. And in a five-on-five setting, when John’s at his best, guys are going to really enjoy playing with him. Let’s try to get the puck more, and let’s have it more. Let’s make plays with it. Let’s not flip it out, or chip it out and chase it.”

We saw Klingberg play at his best in the 2020 bubble in Edmonton. We thought him to be the best Dallas Stars player in their run to the Stanley Cup Final against Tampa Bay.

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Miro Heiskanen would move past Klingberg on Dallas’s blue line, eventually. But that summer, no one in that arena had any doubt who the best Stars defenceman was — the only argument was regarding if he was Dallas’ best player, period.

That was then, of course.

Klingberg played on Team Sweden with Mattias Ekholm at three world championships, and was his defensive partner for one. He also played four seasons in Dallas with Matias Janmark, the Oilers player on who Bowman leaned primarily for a character reference on Klingberg.

Nice guy, well-liked, used to be pretty good.

What is John Klingberg today?

We can’t wait to find out