Maple Leafs Potentially Very Close to Bringing Back John Klingberg

In mid-December Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman revealed that John Klingberg was going to resume skating in the hopes of continuing his NHL career.

Friedman also noted that Klingberg's surgery was performed by the same doctor that operated on Patrick Kane and he is using the same trainers as Kane did when he successfully resumed his career last season.

Klingberg underwent bi-lateral hip surgery last year that ended his first season with the Leafs prematurely.

On Tuesday, TSN's Darren Dreger reported that Klingberg is expected to make a decision on his playing status this season over the next couple of weeks noting that there are 5-7 teams that have reached out and the Leafs are one of them.

Despite the detractors that may think bringing back the former fifth-round pick is a bad idea, Klingberg was an offensive star in the early half of his career, before injuries derailed his career, and he could provide the Leafs with a jolt of offense on a blueline that is struggling severely to produce.

The Swedish defenseman cracked the 40-point mark in five consecutive seasons, including registering a career-high 67 points during the 2017-18 season with the Dallas Stars.

Sadly, the 32-year-old has been marred by injuries and has skated in just 81 games since leaving the Stars at the end of the 2021-22 season and posting a lowly 36 points collectively over that span.

Should the Leafs decide to bring back Klingberg, it will create a log-jam on the blueline and a cap conundrum given the club is already operating in LTIR which means we could see the Leafs deal one of their current blueliners for additional draft capital/prospects and take a very big swing at upgrading the forward group.