Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs Reportedly Interested In Veteran Free Agent Defenceman

According to TSN's Darren Dreger, free agent defenceman John Klingberg is nearing a return, and the Ottawa Senators are one of the teams that has expressed interest in signing the player.

The 32-year-old right-shot defenceman has not played since being placed on long-term injured reserve on November 23, 2023. Klingberg played 14 games last season with the Toronto Maple Leafs before being shut down for the remainder of the season following bilateral hip surgery.

In those 14 games, Klingberg recorded five assists while posting underlying metrics consistent with recent career norms.

Here are his isolated offensive and defensive impacts using HockeyViz's data.

In the photo above, you can see that Klingberg positively impacted the five-on-five rate of expected goals (xGF) in every season of his career, save for his 2014-15 rookie campaign.

Thanks to Artem Zub's return, the Russian's presence in the lineup has markedly bolstered the Senators' top four, but the organization could use some help on the third pairing.

Injuries to Jacob Bernard-Docker and Travis Hamonic have robbed the team of its NHL depth on the right side, necessitating the promotion of Nik Matinpalo from Belleville. Even when healthy, ineffectiveness and inconsistency have plagued this position, making it one of the most easily identifiable positions to upgrade on the roster.

There is no question that Klingberg's puck-moving ability and offensive aptitude would add some dynamics that the alternatives lack. Having been one of the lowest-scoring teams in the league since November 15th, it stands to reason that the Senators are exploring every opportunity they can to find solutions. Most offence begins at the blue line through efficient puck movement and quick transitions from offence to defence. Klingberg would undoubtedly help the Senators in that regard.

Unfortunately for Klingsberg, his defensive metrics undermine what value he creates through his offensive contributions. Evolving-Hockey's proprietary 'total defence' metric (DEF) attempts to measure a player's defensive value by combining a player's defensive contributions at even strength and on the penalty kill into one number.

Since the beginning of the 2019-20 season, no defenceman has accrued less defensive value than Klingberg (-27.3 DEF). (Note: to put this into perspective, examples of players approaching Klingberg's defensive value are Tony DeAngelo and Tyson Barrie.)

Learning that the Senators are interested in Klingberg should not come as a surprise. Their front office is renowned for its diligence and willingness to explore all avenues to improve its roster. It also helps that Klingberg is an unrestricted free agent who would only cost the Senators money to add.

It makes sense for the Senators to kick tires, but I would not be surprised if the organization checked in and had their diligence leaked to the media by the agent to drive interest in his client.

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