John Klingberg isn't "back." Instead he's a new player embracing the moment.
The Edmonton Oilers defender is back in the Stanley Cup final with a chance to do something he's never done before.
When John Klingberg was last at this stage his body was starting to fail him.
He wasn’t sure what or how serious it was, but his hips were starting to betray him, again, as the Dallas Stars reached the Stanley Cup Final in 2020 in the COVID-19 bubble in Edmonton.
He pushed through for a couple more seasons in Dallas, failed to get the final contract he wanted with the Stars, and his play was deteriorating nearly as fast as his body.
The 2022-23 season, split between the Anaheim Ducks and Minnesota Wild, was more “survival each shift than hockey,” when it came to his play, and a short-stint with the Toronto Maple Leafs during the 2023-24 season was ended by another hip procedure.
Klingberg at that point thought he might be done, that his NHL career was over and while he looked for a comeback, there were some “depressing thoughts,” that he’d played his last NHL game.
The Edmonton Oilers gave him a chance, while he was still recovering from hip surgery, but neither he nor the team were certain what type of player he’d be after 13 months between games.
“It’s been a lot,” Klingberg said. “Not just physically challenging, but emotionally it’s been really, really tough. It’s been hard to find the positive perspectives at times.”
Even Klingberg’s return to the Oilers came with question marks. He also got hurt again, injuring his foot when blocking a shot on March 4 in a game against Anaheim. He returned to the lineup on March 27, against the Seattle Kraken, but had developed an infection in his foot which was threatening to grow up his leg.
If the infection had reached his hip, Klingberg said, he’d have to have another procedure, and then who knows what would have happened.
But the infection was controlled and Klingberg was able to return to the Oilers lineup for the playoffs for the series against the Los Angeles Kings. He’s settled in well onto a third-pairing with Jake Walman, and has revived a career that may have been over.
And now he’ll play in the Stanley Cup Final, tonight, when the Oilers host the Florida Panthers in Game 1.
“I do not take this for granted, at all,” Klingberg said. “And here’s the thing, everyone has been talking about how ‘he’s back to his old self, like he was before, blah, blah, blah.’ I’m not back to my old self. I’m a new player, I have to be, I have to be harsher and better defensively. And at the same time, I also have a couple gears I hope, maybe, I can get back up to offensively from here.”
Klingberg looks at himself with harsh honesty right now. He acknowledges some of his own past over confidence, how it cost him opportunity to be a complete defensive player earlier in his career with Dallas. With time and experience, and growth, he realizes what he was missing earlier.
“Even during my best years in Dallas, I always felt there was something missing, that I didn’t get better and better like I could have,” Klingberg said. “But somehow being injured, having to rebuild things, you kind of see what you had to do before, and now you apply it to make the most of the situation now.”
Klingberg has also done his best to find the balance with the pressure of making the most of this opportunity, one that he, frankly, thought might have come and gone when there was a threat of the infection going further up his leg in late March.
It’s one of the reasons Klingberg got his teeth fixed during his 13 months between games, even if he never played another NHL game, he was focused on controlling things he could control.
And now, in the Stanley Cup Final, he has a chance to do something he’s been chasing his entire career and his body seems to be cooperating. While the 2020 Stanley Cup Final was quietly the beginning of the end of one era for John Klingberg, the 2025 Stanley Cup Final could be start of a new one.
Thanks for the update/profile on Klinger, Sean. Until leaving in free agency, and unfortunately over estimating his worth on the market, John was my favorite Dallas Star during his tenure. Given my luck over the years, though, only about a year after I spent nice dollars getting a Victory Green custom Klingberg jersey, he was off to Anaheim. Ironically, since I'm in OC and have Ducks season tickets, I stuck out like a sore thumb at Ducks games with my Victory Green sweater.
I do root for guys that leave, but it was bittersweet last series seeing Mattias Janmark and Klinger play really well against Dallas. Corey Perry, well, he's another story. But you cannot deny how Perry is such an effective player, and plays like sandpaper. I feel like Dallas, even with today's NHL game emphasizing speed, doesn't really have enough players like that (only Bich). It was embarrassing and problematic that there was no response to Darnell Nurse.
Bottom line, Klinger is one of the good guys. I just can't find myself rooting for Edmonton. Ugh!
Thanks for the Klingberg update. One of the best dipsy-doodle twinkle-toes blue line skaters I’ve ever seen… including Orr’s spinneroma!
Good to see him back and contributing. Noticed he’s taking the man more, for him that means just getting in the way! Stars Dmen could try it sometime :))).