John Klingberg's ambiguous injury situation puts Maple Leafs in a tough spot

The John Klingberg experience has only lasted a few weeks for the Toronto Maple Leafs, but it's already been a bumpy ride.

Klingberg has lived up to his shaky defensive reputation and hasn't provided the offensive pop the team expected when they signed him in free agency. The Maple Leafs have been outscored 14-9 when he's on the ice at 5v5 with an expected goal percentage of 42.03%. T.J. Brodie is the only Maple Leaf who has been present for more 5v5 high-danger chances (63) against than Klingberg (61) and Brodie has 48:06 more 5v5 ice time.

Dom Luszczyszyn's "Game Score" metric identifies the Swede as the eighth-worst skater in the NHL this season — and the third-worst not employed by the San Jose Sharks.

If the Maple Leafs were dealing with a flawed-but-talented offseason pickup struggling to integrate into their team less than a quarter of the way through the season that would be a problem, but not a disaster. Where things get hairy for the team is with Klingberg's health situation.

The Swedish defenceman has only missed one game this season, but he was admirably candid discussing nagging injuries that have dogged him with Sportsnet's Luke Fox in Stockholm on Friday.

"It's always been there throughout my career, but I've been able to deal with it and work through it," he said. "But it kind of hit a rock bottom here these last few weeks."

NHL Edge data supports the idea the Klingberg's mobility has been an issue early in the season. His top skating speed of 21.16 mph is slightly off last season's pace (21.82 mph). He also saw his 20-plus mph burst rate drop from 0.51/game to 0.36.

Klingberg went on to describe himself as "very stiff" with "not a lot of motion" though he expressed a desire to be back out on the ice on Sunday when the Maple Leafs take on the Minnesota Wild.

It's unclear if that would be the best thing for Toronto.

Klingberg has had a few bright moments in a Maple Leafs sweater, but in his current state he hasn't been a positive force for the team. Theoretically his best role is as a power-play quarterback, and Morgan Rielly is more than competent stepping into that role.

Toronto's thinned-out blueline is using two AHL callups on its third pair — William Lagesson and Simon Benoit — but each has looked competent so far. Both have also chipped in on the penalty kill, which is something Klingberg doesn't do.

If the veteran Swede were healthy, it's possible he could contribute at a much higher level than guys of that calibre, but he hasn't shown that yet. Based on the undisclosed nature of his ailments it's unclear when he could.

Right now the Maple Leafs seem to be taking it day-by-day and slotting him in and out of the lineup depending on how he's feeling. While it's an understandable strategy based on the high hopes they had for Klingberg when they signed him, he's not helping the team when he's on the ice. If he comes in and out of the lineup he'll also hurt the ability of the bottom-pair defencemen to get reps together and build chemistry.

In an ideal world for Toronto, Klingberg's condition would warrant a trip to LTIR, allowing him to get healthy and free up cap space for the team. That space could enable an exploration into outside blueline help — like the kind expected to become available in Calgary.

There's a reason the term "Robidas Island" has been trending on and off on Twitter for the last week, but for an LTIR stint to happen the team's medical staff needs to deem his injury severe enough for him to miss at least 10 games and 24 days. That doesn't seem like a reasonable bar to clear for a player who has been in and out of the lineup lately.

Klingberg also isn't incentivized to take a paid vacation during a contract season. He will be fighting tooth and nail to play and demonstrate his value to offseason suitors. It's conceivable that he comes to the conclusion he can't help his case with his current play, but that type of thinking runs in stark contrast to the innate competitiveness it takes to be an elite athlete.

That leaves the Maple Leafs with a player who will be pushing to play and might be healthy enough to do so, but perhaps not able to do so well. Because Toronto is dealing with other blueline injuries, the team is more likely to go to an ailing Klingberg than it would be under other circumstances.

Lagesson and Benoit could easily encounter struggles that make his presence in the lineup feel necessary, even in a diminished state. There's a reason why Lagesson spent his 2022-23 season in the AHL while Benoit was available on a one-year, $775K contract in free agency after a rough season with the Anaheim Ducks.

The ongoing nature of Klingberg's injury also makes it unclear when the Maple Leafs will be able to shake loose of this undesirable situation. It might take the return of Conor Timmins or Timothy Liljegren to create a paradigm shift. Timmins could be back as soon as Sunday, but he's as unproven as the team's current options with jut 66 NHL games under his belt. Liljegren's return figures to be impactful, but he's a ways out.

For now, the Maple Leafs are hoping that Klingberg can get better, and by extension play better, but there's no obvious reason to believe that will happen.

The best news for the team is that following their Sunday game they won't have to take the ice again until next Friday. It's possible a little time off will help Klingberg come around, or give the team more clarity on the situation and whether they need to do something to shake up an unpalatable status quo.