Insider Confirms Reunion Possible Between Maple Leafs and Former Defenseman
Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman revealed on Friday that the Maple Leafs and GM Brad Treliving may explore bringing back John Klingberg.
On December 21st, Friedman reveal on 'Saturday Headlines' that Klingberg was going to resume skating after Christmas in an attempt to return to the NHL after more than 400 days.
Friedman noted that Klingberg had the same doctor that performed Patrick Kane's surgery and will be using the same skating coaches the future Hall-of-Famer used in Toronto, meaning that the Leafs have the opportunity to monitor his progress.
The Swedish defenseman joined the Leafs on a one-year deal last season, but had to have bi-lateral hip surgery, which ended his season prematurely.
On Friday afternoon, we saw Friedman make an appearance on the Fan590's 'The Fan Hockey Show' where he was asked about a potential trade for an offensive defenseman. Friedman noted that the Leafs and Brad Treliving would have to make a difficult decision about their assets and how much they want to spend on a center.
Should they have assets left, he suggested they could target an offensive-minded blueliner to help with the lack of scoring (0 goals in December on almost 100 shots).
At the end of the conversation, Friedman cheekily suggested that maybe a reunion with Klingberg is in the cards for the Maple Leafs.
A fifth-round pick in 2010, Klingberg was once an offensive star on the blueline for the Dallas Stars, cracking the 40-point mark five consecutive times, including a career-high 67 points in the 2017-2018 season.
Unfortunately, injuries have significantly slowed his career down. Since leaving the Stars at the end of the 2021-2022 season, the 32-year-old has skated in just 81 games over the past three seasons and tallied just 36 points.
Should Klingberg be able to recover the same way Kane did last season, it would not be a surprise to see teams reach out and present league-minimum deals to him, with the Leafs being one of them.
However, the Leafs would need to first understand their cap situation as they are currently operating in LTIR with Calle Jarnkrok and Jani Hakanpaa on long-term injured reserve.
If they can make it work and are comfortable with Klingberg's recovery, it would be a low-risk, high-reward situation for a blueline that has just seven goals so far this season.
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