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Keefe comments on debut of Leafs' most controversial off-season signing

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Ryan Smitheram
October 12, 2023 (8:43)

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When free agency opened on July 1st, it was pretty obvious that the Leafs and new GM Brad Treliving would be in the market for a defenseman. However, the player they targeted wasn't really the one on anyone's radar. They signed John Klingberg to a 1-year deal worth $4.15M for this season.

The Klingberg deal was met with lots of criticism from fans and media alike simply because Klingberg has not been close to good defensively the past few seasons and many felt that he was not the type of defenseman the Leafs needed to sign after the loss of Luke Schenn.

Klingberg was brought in to take some of the offensive pressure off of Morgan Rielly, and even took his place on the Leafs' top powerplay unit. Unfortunately, things did not start off too well for him in Toronto after he was injured in a pre-season game against Buffalo and missed the rest of training camp with an upper-body injury. Klingberg returned to action for the Leafs' home and season opener last night and received some high praise from Sheldon Keefe for his efforts in this one.

"I thought the play of John Klingberg was really good tonight. He played with lots of authority with the puck. He shot the puck when it was his turn to shoot it. He moved it with confidence. He didn't get a lot of game reps with the power play [in preseason], but I thought he did a good job � especially as we settled in during the second period � on the power play. He was another real standout for me tonight. It was really good to see despite the fact that he hasn't played a lot."<\q>

Klingberg spent the majority of the game skating with Jake McCabe on the Leafs' second pairing. He finished the game with two assists and two hits in just under 25 minutes of ice-time. It was a fairly solid debut for the 31-year-old Swede and something he will look to build on when the Leafs return to action Saturday night against his former Minnesota Wild.

Previously on MapleLeafsDaily

Connor Bedard scores his first career NHL goal on a sneaky-good play from below the goal line

Ryan Reaves drops the gloves for the first time as a Maple Leaf, takes on 234-pound Arber Xhekaj

Maple Leafs confirm there will be a new goal song starting tonight

POLL
12 OCTOBRE \| 68 ANSWERS Keefe comments on debut of Leafs' most controversial off-season signing Were you impressed with Klingberg's Leafs debut?
Yes	36	52.9 %
No	7	10.3 %
He was just okay for me	25	36.8 %
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