UFA John Klingberg Chooses to Sign With Canadian Contender

He's been out of the NHL for nearly 14 months, but former All-Star defenseman John Klingberg is ready to return from hip surgery, and he has selected to resume his career with the Edmonton Oilers.

🗣️JOHN KLINGBERG‼️

The #Oilers have signed the free agent defenceman to a one-year contract. Klingberg has scored 81 goals & 331 assists in 633 career @NHL regular season games. pic.twitter.com/b7kI159pAt
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) January 17, 2025

It's a one-year deal for the unrestricted free agent with a $1 million (pro-rated) salary and a $350,000 bonus.

Klingberg was only able to play 14 games for the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2023-24 season before he was forced to shut it down and undergo a double hip resurfacing procedure. He's been working his way back for the last several months in the Toronto area, but has decided to go across the country to the Stanley Cup-contending Oilers.

He will likely slot in next to Darnell Nurse on the second pairing.

Edmonton has been searching for a right-shot second-pairing D-man essentially since the start of the season, and now are able to add Klingberg, a veteran puck-mover with 10 years of experience, without giving up any assets. And at the minimal price, there's really no downside.

After his serious hip procedure, and being out for over a year, whether he's able to perform up to "second-pairing" standards remains to be seen. Even before the surgery, Klingberg was a double-digits negative in plus/minus rating for four straight seasons before his brief stay as a Leaf last year.

But again, given the low cost, the Oilers retain financial flexibility to still go out and try to land perhaps a more physical defenseman before the trade deadline as well.

The 32-year-old Klingberg has 81 goals and 331 assists for 412 points in 633 regular-season games for the Maple Leafs, Minnesota Wild, Anaheim Ducks and the team he spent the first eight years of his career with, the Dallas Stars. He was an All-Star in 2018, setting career highs that season with 59 assists and 67 points in 82 games along with a plus/minus rating of +10. He finished 6th in Norris Trophy balloting that year for the second time in three seasons.