Marquee defender wants out of Dallas; here's what the Leafs may have to give up to get him
David Pagnotta reported today that, per his sources, Dallas Stars defenseman John Klingberg has asked for a trade out of the Lone Star State.
This changes the landscape heading into the trade deadline massively. Klingberg is a marquee right handed defenceman who would make any team's D corps better. If the Leafs are smart, they'll move heaven and earth to bring him to Toronto, even if they can only do so on a rental basis.
The first obstacle, as Pagnotta pointed out, is that the Stars aren't necessarily sellers and much like the Leafs with Ilya Mikheyev, they may not honour his wishes. Dallas is 1 season removed from the Stanley Cup finals and they aren't out of the playoff picture for this season either, despite missing out last year.
The second obstacle is the salary cap. Klingberg's contract is an absolute steal at $4.25 million, but there will still need to be moves made to make it happen.
Due to Klingberg playing the same position, it likely means that Justin Holl will have to go, along with perhaps another body, to free up that cap space. Getting it done all in one move may be difficult. But we'll try it out here.
Maple Leafs Offer:
Justin Holl
Rodion Amirov
2022 1st round pick
(perhaps a low pick or a B prospect if additional balancing is required)
Dallas Stars Offer:
John Klingberg (2,125,000 retained)
This deal costs the Leafs a lot, a roster D man, an A prospect and a 1st-rounder should cover the cost of acquiring Klingberg. Any additional pieces would cover the retained salary, or perhaps one of the pieces could be a conditional pick, which would trigger if Klingberg was to win the Cup in Toronto or re-sign there in the offseason.
While Amirov (drafted 15th overall in 2020) is a nice piece, he could also be swapped out for Robertson, depending on who the Stars are higher on. You'd have to imagine that with his brother Jason already playing in Dallas, Nick Robertson would intrigue the Stars.
In this scenario, with Nick Ritchie in the minors and the Leafs fully healthy with a 20 man roster there is $216,000 left to play with. Ideally Ritchie will be moved as well, opening up an additional $1.375M for Dubas to work with.
While the price is certainly high for a pure rental, a move like this may just be enough to push the Leafs into the second round and beyond. The Leafs have more moves to make in order to round out the roster, but landing an absolute stud like John Klingberg could take them from pretenders to contenders.
