Insider reveals that a Leaf's career may be coming to an abrupt end

They knew at the time that he was a defensive liability and were hoping that playing him with someone like Jake McCabe would insulate him and cover up some or most of his mistakes. Unfortunately for the Leafs and Klingberg, that has not happened and over the last week and a half we now have an understanding of why.

Klingberg missed a significant amount of training camp with what the team called a "lower-body" injury and was then held out of the lineup last Friday against the Calgary Flames. He surprised everyone when he played on Saturday against the Vancouver Canucks and was expected to play in at least one of the Leafs games in Sweden. While in Sweden, Klingberg missed three consecutive practices and was ruled out for the Leafs' first game against the Detroit Red Wings. He was hopeful he would be able to play in their game Sunday against the Minnesota Wild, but ahead of the game, he left practice just 10 minutes in due to the injury flaring up.

The Leafs and Klingberg had hoped that the aggressive treatment they were trying during the week off would allow him to play while in Sweden, but that was not the case. With another week off before their next game, he might be able to play this weekend, but from what TSN's Chris Johnston said on "The Leaf Report" podcast today, it does not sound like he will be.

On the podcast today, Johnston revealed that during a media scrum in Sweden, Klingberg said he "so badly wants to play again." Johnston revealed however that may not be the case.

Earlier today, TSN's Darren Dreger speculated that Klingberg's injury is likely hip related, which would make sense given that he had previously undergone a double hip surgery a few years ago. At 31-years-old, Klingberg should have lots of years left in his career, but the longer he remains out of the lineup, the less likely it is that he returns.