John Klingberg

John Klingberg
Klingberg with the Dallas Stars in March 2022
Born	(1992-08-14) 14 August 1992 (age 32) Gothenburg, Sweden
Height	6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Weight	190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position	Defence
Shoots	Right
NHL team Former teams	Free agent Frölunda HC Jokerit Skellefteå AIK Dallas Stars Anaheim Ducks Minnesota Wild Toronto Maple Leafs
National team	Sweden
NHL draft	131st overall, 2010 Dallas Stars
Playing career	2010–present

John Andersson Klingberg (born 14 August 1992) is a Swedish professional ice hockey defenceman who is an unrestricted free agent. He was drafted 131st overall in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft by the Dallas Stars. He is the younger brother of Carl Klingberg.

Playing career

Klingberg started his career at an early age in Lerums BK; he was then signed as a youth to join the Frölunda HC program. He made his Elitserien debut for Frölunda HC on 21 September 2010, against AIK. ^[1]

Klingberg with Jokerit in September 2011

On 16 May 2011, the Dallas Stars announced that they had signed Klingberg to a three-year entry-level contract. ^[2] He was then loaned to the Finnish SM-liiga to play with Jokerit in the 2011–12 season before returning to Sweden midway through the campaign to Skellefteå AIK.

In the 2013–14 season, Klingberg opted to play on loan with Frölunda HC, and produced a career high 11 goals and 28 points in 50 games. After post-season elimination, Klingberg was assigned to the Stars' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Texas Stars, and played in three regular season games.

In his first full North American season in 2014–15, Klingberg remained with Texas to begin the year. After being recalled by the Stars, he made his NHL debut in a 4–3 victory over the Arizona Coyotes on 11 November 2014. ^[3] Klingberg scored his first NHL goal on 20 November 2014, against Mike Smith of the Arizona Coyotes. ^[4] Klingberg finished first in points among all rookie defenceman in 2014–15 and was named to the NHL all-rookie team. ^[5]

The Stars qualified for the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs. They defeated the Minnesota Wild in the first-round ^[6] before falling to the St. Louis Blues in the second. ^[7] Overall, Klingberg recorded one goal and three assists in 13 games.

After ranking first among NHL defencemen, Klingberg was named to the 2018 NHL All-Star Game, along with teammate Tyler Seguin. ^[8] He finished the year with a career-high 67 points in 82 games.

On 9 November 2018, Klingberg underwent hand surgery, sidelining him for at least four weeks. ^[9] He returned on 20 December in a 5–2 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks. ^[10] Despite missing a total of 18 games, Klingberg recorded ten goals and 45 points.

During the Stars' first-round match-up against the Nashville Predators in the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs, Klingberg scored the series-winning overtime goal in game six to advance. ^[11]

An unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2021–22 season, contract negotiations fell through with Dallas during the season after Klingberg and his agent turned down an 8 year contract with an average value of roughly $7 million, instead seeking out an annual cap hit of $8 million at 8 years. ^[12] After failing to attract interest in a long-term deal during the opening weeks of free agency, Klingberg fired his agent and hired new representation; ^{[13] [14]} a lengthy contract never materialized and on 29 July 2022, Klingberg ultimately signed a one-year, $7 million contract with the Anaheim Ducks. ^[15] In the 2022–23 season, Klingberg was leant upon heavily for the rebuilding Ducks, and struggled to match his career scoring pace however still led the Anaheim blueline with eight goals and 24 points in 50 games approaching the NHL trade deadline. On 3 March 2023, as an expiring contract, Klingberg was dealt by the Ducks to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for Andrej Šustr, the rights to prospect Nikita Nesterenko and a 2025 fourth-round draft pick. ^[16]

Leaving the Wild as a free agent, Klingberg joined his third club in short succession after he was signed to a one-year, $4.15 million contract by the Toronto Maple Leafs on 1 July 2023. ^[17] Klingberg recorded 5 points in his first 6 games with the team, but then went scoreless in his next 9 with relatively poor play; on 23 November, the Maple Leafs placed Klingberg on long-term injured reserve due to hip injury. ^{[18] [19]} General Manager Brad Treliving revealed that Klingberg had been injured during an early team road trip to Florida in October, and had been playing through the injury for the past month. ^[20] On 7 December, Treliving revealed that Klingberg was to undergo hip surgery at the end of the month and would not play again for the rest of the season. ^[21]

Personal life

Klingberg was born in Gothenburg, Sweden, to Anders Klingberg. His father, Anders, is also active in hockey and was a head coach for Göteborg during TV-pucken, a Swedish ice hockey tournament. ^[22] Klingberg also has two brothers, both of whom are active hockey players; Carl who currently plays for EV Zug of the National League (NL) and Olle, who currently plays with Lerums BK. ^[23]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2008–09	Frölunda HC	J18		16	3	8	11	8		—	—	—	—	—
2008–09	Frölunda HC	J18 Allsv		14	0	4	4	4		3	0	0	0	0
2009–10	Frölunda HC	J18		10	2	4	6	12		—	—	—	—	—
2009–10	Frölunda HC	J18 Allsv		10	1	9	10	10		7	2	9	11	10
2009–10	Frölunda HC	J20		27	0	5	5	32		5	1	0	1	6
2010–11	Frölunda HC	J20		13	3	14	17	29		7	1	10	11	6
2010–11	Frölunda HC	SEL		26	0	5	5	10		—	—	—	—	—
2010–11	Borås HC	Allsv		7	1	0	1	2		—	—	—	—	—
2011–12	Jokerit	FIN U20		1	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
2011–12	Jokerit	SM-l		20	1	2	3	8		—	—	—	—	—
2011–12	Kiekko-Vantaa	Mestis		6	1	4	5	0		—	—	—	—	—
2011–12	Skellefteå AIK	SEL		16	1	3	4	6		16	0	4	4	14
2012–13	Skellefteå AIK	J20		1	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
2012–13	Skellefteå AIK	SEL		25	1	12	13	6		13	1	3	4	8
2012–13	Texas Stars	AHL		—	—	—	—	—		1	0	0	0	0
2013–14	Frölunda HC	SHL		50	11	17	28	12		7	0	4	4	2
2013–14	Texas Stars	AHL		3	0	1	1	4		—	—	—	—	—
2014–15	Texas Stars	AHL		10	4	8	12	6		—	—	—	—	—
2014–15	Dallas Stars	NHL		65	11	29	40	32		—	—	—	—	—
2015–16	Dallas Stars	NHL		76	10	48	58	30		13	1	3	4	2
2016–17	Dallas Stars	NHL		80	13	36	49	34		—	—	—	—	—
2017–18	Dallas Stars	NHL		82	8	59	67	26		—	—	—	—	—
2018–19	Dallas Stars	NHL		64	10	35	45	12		13	2	7	9	6
2019–20	Dallas Stars	NHL		58	6	26	32	22		26	4	17	21	14
2020–21	Dallas Stars	NHL		53	7	29	36	23		—	—	—	—	—
2021–22	Dallas Stars	NHL		74	6	41	47	34		7	0	1	1	26
2022–23	Anaheim Ducks	NHL		50	8	16	24	30		—	—	—	—	—
2022–23	Minnesota Wild	NHL		17	2	7	9	4		4	1	3	4	0
2023–24	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		14	0	5	5	8		—	—	—	—	—
SHL totals				117	13	37	50	34		36	1	11	12	24
NHL totals				633	81	331	412	255		63	8	31	39	48

International

Medal record
Representing   Sweden
Ice hockey
World Championships
	2017 Germany/France
	2018 Denmark
World Junior Championships
	2012 Canada

Year	Team	Event	Result		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2011	Sweden	WJC	4th		6	1	1	2	0
2012	Sweden	WJC			6	0	3	3	4
2015	Sweden	WC	5th		7	2	4	6	0
2017	Sweden	WC			10	2	4	6	2
2018	Sweden	WC			10	1	5	6	4
2019	Sweden	WC	5th		5	2	2	4	2
Junior totals					12	1	4	5	4
Senior totals					32	7	15	22	8

Awards and achievements

Award	Year
SHL
Le Mat Trophy champion	2013
NHL
All-Rookie Team	2015	[5]
All-Star Game	2018	[8]
International
Best Defenceman	2018

References

1. "Hockeyligan.se - Statistik". Hockeyligan.se (in Swedish). 21 September 2010. Archived from the original on 19 March 2012.
2. "Stars sign prospect John Klingberg". ESPN. 16 May 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
3. "Stars beat Coyotes 4-3 to snap a 7-game slide". newstimes.com. 11 November 2014. Archived from the original on 13 November 2014. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
4. "Arizona Coyotes at Dallas Stars". 21 October 2014.
5. "John Klingberg named to 2014-15 All-Rookie Team". NHL.com. 24 June 2015. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
6. Myers, Dan. "Stars survive rally to win Game 6, eliminate Wild". NHL.com. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
7. "Blues dominate, eliminate Stars". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. 12 May 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
8. "Stars' Klingberg, Seguin named to 2018 NHL All-Star roster". NHL.com. 10 January 2018. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
9. "Klingberg out at least four weeks for Stars". National Hockey League. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
10. Greenfield, Jimmy (21 December 2018). "3 takeaways from the Blackhawks' 5-2 win, including why they're the hottest team in the NHL right now". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
11. "Stars' John Klingberg: Seals series with OT tally". CBSSports. 23 April 2019. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
12. "John Klingberg turned down massive offer before free agency". Hockey Feed. 2 August 2022. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
13. "John Klingberg parts ways with longtime agent Peter Wallen". Sportsnet. 27 July 2022. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
14. "How John Klingberg's Former Agent Made A Huge Mistake Costing Millions". Hawks insider. 1 August 2022. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
15. "Klingberg signs one-year contract with Ducks". NHL.com. 29 July 2022. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
16. "Minnesota Wild acquires John Klingberg from the Anaheim Ducks". Minnesota Wild. 3 March 2023. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
17. "Maple Leafs sign defenceman John Klingberg". Toronto Maple Leafs. 1 July 2023. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
18. McCarthy, Dave (23 November 2023). "Klingberg placed on long-term injured reserve by Maple Leafs". NHL.com. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
19. Fox, Luke (17 November 2023). "Leafs D-man John Klingberg skating but in pain as injury hit 'rock bottom'". Sportsnet.ca. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
20. Alter, David (28 November 2023). "Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving Anticipates Clarity on John Klingberg's Hip Injury 'This Week'". The Hockey News . Retrieved 7 December 2023.
21. McCarthy, Dave (7 December 2023). "Klingberg to have hip surgery, out for season for Maple Leafs". National Hockey League . Retrieved 7 December 2023.
22. "ANDERS KLINGBERG". eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
23. "Olle Klingberg prospect profile". eliteprospects.com. 7 June 2015. Retrieved 7 June 2015.

External links

• Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com , or  Eliteprospects.com , or  Eurohockey.com , or  Hockey-Reference.com , or  The Internet Hockey Database