Yahoo Sports Oilers Have No Need For Veteran Free Agent
The Edmonton Oilers are still sniffing around for a bargain on the blueline.
To that end, insider Darren Dreger named them as one of the teams attached to free agent defenceman John Klingberg this morning. The 32-year-old right-shot defenceman has been out of commission this season as he recovers from hip surgery but is almost ready to make his comeback according to Dreger.
John Klingberg is closing in on resuming his NHL career. Toronto, Ottawa and Edmonton among the teams with expressed interest. A decision expected in next 2 weeks. Klingberg had hip resurfacing surgery in 2023 and has worked hard to get to this point. 5-7 teams in the mix.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) January 14, 2025
On the surface, Klingberg is exactly what the Oilers need: a veteran, right-shot puck mover who can help out on the team's bottom two pairs. But look even a little bit under the surface, and one begins to wonder why the Oilers are interested at all.
Klingberg used to be a legitimate star on the blueline. Early in his career in Dallas, he routinely scored 40+ points from the back end and even picked up two sixth-place Norris finishes in his early 20s. But his defence started to slip near the end of his time in Texas, to the point where his offensive contributions weren't enough to balance the scale.
Then came the real collapse. Klingberg signed a one-year, $7 million pillow contract with the Anaheim Ducks ahead of the 2022-23 season, and it went about as badly as possible. Both the Ducks and Klingberg were abject disasters that season, as the tanking team and struggling defenceman were stuck in a spiral that neither could save the other from.
That relationship mercifully ended when he was traded to Minnesota at the trade deadline, where his numbers bounced back a little bit. He parlayed that into a one-year, $4.5 million deal with Toronto the next season, but he only got into 14 games with the Maple Leafs in 2023-24 before injuries ended his season.
Klingberg showed in Minnesota and Toronto that he can still provide some decent offence from the back end, but that even the most sheltered minutes can't save his horrific defensive numbers.
John Klingberg is reportedly pursuing an NHL comeback after undergoing hip surgery. pic.twitter.com/UkZXiocYhy
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) January 14, 2025
His overall impacts bring to mind players like Tony DeAngelo and Tyson Barrie—solid offensive blueliners who can run a powerplay but not do much else. Add in a serious hip injury in his early 30s and the clear signs of decline over the past few seasons, and he's just not a good bet for the Oilers.
That's not to say he doesn't deserve or won't get a shot elsewhere; he'd fit right in in Vancouver, where Quinn Hughes is the only defenceman capable of contributing any offence. But the Oilers need a shutdown righty, not a powerplay specialist.
Kicking the tires on a player like John Klingberg is fine, but sometimes you have to recognize that just because something is cheap doesn't mean it's a bargain.
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