This season appears to be John Klingberg's last with the Dallas Stars.
The 29-year-old defenseman is an unrestricted free agent this summer and has expressed his frustrations over contract talks that have reportedly come to a standstill. That has prompted speculation that the Stars have begun shopping Klingberg before the March 21 NHL trade deadline.
Since making his debut with Dallas in 2014-15, Klingberg is third in total points among the Stars and ninth overall among defensemen with 344 points.
Most of those blueliners are earning over $7 million annually. Klingberg is in line for a healthy raise over the $4.25 million annual cap hit he's been drawing since 2015-16.
Sportsnet's Jeff Marek reported earlier this season the blueliner is pursuing something "in the area" of eight years and between $62 million-66 million from the Stars. He also said Klingberg's agent asked general manager Jim Nill if he could accommodate a trade for his client if they couldn't reach an agreement on a new contract.
Klingberg addressed those rumors that he approached management about a trade. "That's not entirely true," he said, explaining Nill gave his camp permission to speak with other teams. "It's not like I've been going out there and asking, 'I want to get traded now,' or something like that. It's something that's been going on with the negotiations and stuff like that."
The Stars have $58 million invested in 14 players for next season, with several players also due for new contracts this summer. With $17.9 million invested in defensemen Miro Heiskanen, Esa Lindell and Ryan Suter for 2022-23, they appear reluctant to meet Klingberg's asking price.
Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman theorized that the Stars' position is based on the contracts they signed with Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin, who were at or approaching 28 when their respective long-term deals began.
The wear-and-tear they have suffered since has affected their performances, prompting Friedman to suggest the Stars don't want to see the same thing with the 30-year-old Klingberg.
A skilled, puck-moving, right-shot defenseman like Klingberg would draw plenty of interest as a rental player among playoff contenders. Here's our take on five potential trade destinations for John Klingberg and what he might fetch in return.
Feel free to weigh in with your views on this topic in the comments section below.
Calgary Flames
After a strong start to this season that saw them tied atop the Western Conference on Dec. 4, the Calgary Flames find themselves battling for the final wild-card spot.
A COVID-19 outbreak is partially to blame for their 2-7-1 record in their past 10 games, but so too is a lack of mobile offensive depth among their defense corps.
On Dec. 27, Sportsnet's Eric Francis boldly predicted the Flames would trade for a top defenseman. He took note of head coach Darryl Sutter's frequent critiquing the lack of skilled puck-movers on his blue line. Francis speculated they could bring back former captain Mark Giordano from the Seattle Kraken or perhaps someone else if he's unavailable.
Klingberg would address the Flames' need for offensive mobility on their defense. He could skate alongside Noah Hanifin on the top pairing or with Oliver Kylington on the second pairing.
Calgary has two second-round picks of this year's draft to dangle as trade bait. If unwilling to part with a prospect, perhaps a younger player, like Dillon Dube, could be included in the deal.
The Flames are projected to have $7.5 million in cap space by the trade deadline, giving them enough room to take on the remainder of Klingberg's cap hit. They would also have more if they include Dube and his $2.3 million annual average value in the deal.