A signing this off-season that I am thoroughly excited for is John Klingberg to the Toronto Maple Leafs on a 1-year $4.15 million deal. Over the last three seasons, John Klingberg has had two consecutive superstar offensive production seasons and a star season. Last season, he signed a one year $7 million deal with the Anaheim Ducks. He was a participant, on some nights a factor, and at many times a  witness to their historically abysmal season. The Ducks ranked 32nd in defense (40+ SOG against per game) and 30th in scoring. Fortunately for Klingberg, he was traded to the Minnesota Wild at the trade deadline where he would wrap up the regular season with a steady 9 points in 17 games. In Minnesota’s brief postseason run, he would go on to post four points in four playoff games. He was deployed on average for 20:37 per game, which would place him third amongst the Maple Leafs’ defensemen.

In nine seasons, Klingberg has never produced below .50 PPG, indicating he is a star-level producer or better from the blueline regardless of his team’s situation. Despite playing on a historically bad Ducks team, he was still able to finish the season with .66 PPG. Looking at the Toronto Maple Leafs, they were a serious contender to win the Stanley Cup last season but came out just short against Florida in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The addition of John Klingberg adds more scoring depth to a deep and varied blue line which already features viable two-way defenders in Morgan Rielly, Jake McCabe, and TJ Brodie. Ideally, Klingberg being Toronto’s 3rd most deployed defenseman should allow him the opportunity to ascend back to his heightened production in Dallas during the 21-22 campaign. He will create more scoring chances up front for Toronto’s dynamic forward group, while also adding another option for their second power play unit. Toronto ranked second in the NHL during the 2023 season with 26% efficiency and could see an increase in that number.

-Damien