John Klingberg Stinks, Why Would Anybody Want Him?
Players bet on themselves all the time. For whatever reason, we just don’t want to talk about the guys who bet on themselves and fail. If John Klingberg was given truth serum, he would tell you he would like a redo on the decision to sign with the Anaheim Ducks. Instead of taking a team friendly deal to stay in Dallas, Klingberg signed a one year deal with the Ducks. A move that’s backfired and exposed all of Klingberg’s flaws.
Frank Seravalli recently did a deep dive on John Klingberg heading into the trade deadline. I guess my question is, who the hell would want him? The expanded role on a bad Ducks team has only exposed all of the warts in Klingberg’s game. He can’t defend and needs to be paired with the right partner or all hell breaks loose. If getting rid of Klingberg meant unlocking Miro Heiskanen, then the Stars should have dumped him long before they actually did.
Klingberg is so bad that he sticks out like a sore thumb. Without a defensive stalwart for the Ducks on the blue line, Klingberg is being abused. As Frank mentioned in his post, “According to Evolving Hockey, Klingberg ranks 174 out of 180 defensemen in goals above replacement among players with over 500 minutes.” Let’s forget about trade for a second. In what world does this player even help me?
Klingberg feels a lot like Tony DeAngelo and Tyson Barrie. The only difference is he’s not close to that level offensively. Through 45 games, Klingberg has seven goals and 20 assists with a -26 rating. Yes, the Ducks are bad but Klingberg isn’t doing his fair share offensively. He has all the opportunity in the world to be the guy and has failed. Cam Fowler is the only real threat for powerplay time on the roster.
For a $7 million AAV, even if the Ducks retain, why am I giving up assets for this? We have seen the leap that Josh Morrisey has taken under the tutelage of Rick Bowness. Maybe we underestimated his influence on Klingberg in Dallas. The warts are evident and the warts are gross. Outside of being a third pair guy tasked with handling the powerplay, there is no value here.
John Klingberg’s stock couldn’t be any lower right now. It’s time to admit the guy just stinks. Sometimes betting on yourself doesn’t work and this one will go down in the books as just that.
