Dallas Stars Report Cards: John Klingberg
John Klingberg‘s sophomore season is in the books, and his report card is fresh off the press!
One player that was strangely silent in the Dallas Stars’ playoff efforts this season was John Klingberg. With two great seasons behind him, he’s proven himself as one of the most clever and productive defenseman in the league, despite his postseason drought.
The Prodigy
John Klingberg’s past with the Dallas Stars is relatively short, albeit productive. After he was drafted by Dallas in 2010, he played extensively in Sweden and then spent a season with the Texas Stars before what would become a simply amazing freshman year with the Stars.
In the 65 games Klingberg put in, he notched 11 goals and 29 assists, ending with a + 5 rating. Although the Stars didn’t put forth a playoff-worthy season, Klingberg’s personal efforts were recognized on many fronts as being worthy of the Calder Trophy.
When he wasn’t even nominated, many felt he’d been snubbed for the honor and had played the best season of any rookie defenseman of the league. At at the current age of 23, it was clear then as it is now that he has many good years ahead of him.
Regular Season Recap
The saying goes that things that go up must come down. A majority critics and fans alike anticipated the common, dreaded sophomore slump for Klinger this season, but in many ways, he proved the naysayers wrong.
In the 76 games he played, Klingberg scored 10 goals, recorded 48 assists, and ended up with a + 22 rating. While his PIM didn’t change drastically from the 2014-2015 season (he went from 32 to 30), one aspect of his game did. The implementation of the new overtime format really gave Klinger a chance to shine, as he contributed with 4 game winning goals, 3 of which came in overtime.
With a TOI average of about 22:41 for the season, Klingberg became pretty dependable as a solid two-way defenseman and was, in most cases, the glue that held the Dallas Stars’ overtime efforts together.
Playoff Recap
The postseason was where Klingberg started to fall a bit short of expectations. In his 13 games played, he scored once and recorded 3 assists, with no game winners. Although he only had two minutes of penalty time, he did head into the offseason with a -5 rating.
So what was Klinger’s playoff deal? Some will attribute it to the rigidity of playing the same team for a whole series and the dangerous familiarity that it produces. Once other teams get a feel for what a player like Klingberg normally does in certain situations, they can easily target him and put extra effort into neutralizing the threat.
We saw this happen many times in the playoffs, especially in the second round where Klinger was the target of the Blues’ aggressive physicality on many occassions. This is probably a downside to Klingberg’s game; while he is the perfect two-way defenseman, he is a deal less physical than many defenseman and could find himself a bit the odd man out as Dallas’ defense adapts to fit a more aggressive, heavy-hitting style.
Contract Situation
As mentioned before, at 23 years old, Klingberg has many good years of hockey left, and it’s not to presumptuous to say his best years are most likely still ahead of him. And with the seven year, $29.75 million contract extension he and the Stars agreed upon last offseason, it’s also pretty safe to say that Klingberg won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.
The Dallas Stars have been progressively and painstakingly building their defense up to compete with the rest of the league. Although they’ve brought in bigger bodies with intimidation potential, Klinger’s place as an offensive defenseman is still irreplaceable.
The value that his mentality as a part-time fourth forward has added to the Stars’ offense is undeniable, and will continue to be. So the Stars made a great decision locking him down last season, and should not look to make any other contradicting moves.
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Bottom line
Klingberg will improve and continue to be an asset to the Stars. He’ll need to adapt to how the Stars’ defensive style is changing for the better without losing his offensive mindset. He’ll also need to figure out how to overcome the fact that his novelty has faded.
Now that his explosive freshman season is over and the rest of the NHL has, in some way, figured him out and knows to target him specifically Klingberg will need to be flexible in his style of play and learn how to grow beyond what we’ve already seen from him.
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But from what we have seen, he is capable of this and will continue to be a great two-way defenseman, adding to both offense and defense for the Dallas Stars for many years to come.