Insider cautions that the Leafs may not be able to make a move just yet, even with Klingberg on LTIR

For much of the year, it was made apparent that John Klingberg had been playing through an undisclosed injury in an attempt to try to both manage the injury and continue to play hockey. However, following a game against the Vancouver Canucks 2 weeks ago, Klingberg had ceased practicing and playing, missing both games in Sweden at last weekend's Global Series.

TSN's Mike Johnson created a bit of a stir this week when he confirmed that he had seen Klingberg up close and in person and that Klingberg had been labouring to move around because of his injury, believed to be a hip injury. The thought process was that he would end up on LTIR for the season, but when TSN's Darren Dreger had reached out to the Leafs for comment, he was told that the team hadn't yet made a decision on Klingberg. Well, fast forward a few days and here we are, with Klingberg having been placed on LTIR on Thursday.

Dreger joined the TSN 1050 crew this morning on First Up and explained why it might be a little too early to determine whether or not Klingberg is done for the year. As it turns out, we may have to wait until that 10-game, 24-day mark to determine whether or not his long-term prognosis ends up being better than expected or whether his season will end prematurely.

Klingberg being on LTIR does free up $4.15M for the Leafs, which will at least temporarily allow them to carry a full 23-man roster, but as far as Dreger is concerned, the Leafs can't spend any of that money yet on a player like Chris Tanev or Nikita Zadorov. They'll first need more clarity on Klingberg's future. If he's going to miss the season, fitting another substantial contract in becomes more feasible. If he's only going to miss a few weeks or a month, then the Leafs won't be able to spend that money if they hope to remain cap compliant.

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