FRISCO — John Klingberg may have played his final game in Victory Green, but both he and Stars general manager Jim Nill left the door open for a return to...
The Stars and Klingberg have been at an impasse this entire season, reaching a head in January when Klingberg“Other guys have signed right before the season before,” Klingberg said back in January. “I wanted to do that as well.
Lately, it has been going more quietly and quietly. For me, as a player, I don’t feel that I’ve been appreciated in that way when we don’t even negotiate.” On Tuesday, Klingberg said not much had changed in negotiations with Dallas, but he would speak with both Nill and agent Peter Wallen about his situation. Klingberg said the last bit of dialogue happened around the trade deadline, “but there was nothing new, really, then either.” “Where I’m standing right here, right now today, I really don’t know what’s going to happen,” Klingberg said. “We’ll see. … They’re going to have their standpoint. We’re probably to have our standpoint. We’ll try to meet in the middle, I guess.” The Stars are scarred by long-term, big-money contracts paid to Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn. Both signed maximum eight-year contracts, both have battled injuries, and both have seen their production dip significantly in recent years. Seguin still has five years remaining on his deal with a $9.85 million cap hit; Benn, three years at $9.5 million. Dallas does not want to lock itself into another deal that carries both term and a high cap hit. Klingberg wants the security of a long-term contract. So they find themselves unable to reach a deal. Klingberg is a high-risk, high-reward, offensive defenseman that thrives transitioning the puck and at the point on the power play. He’s one of the few Stars defensemen capable of executing a one-man breakout and the group’s most dynamic on the power play. Without him, the Stars would hope that Miro Heiskanen can take the next step on the power play and that Thomas Harley can be a reliable puck mover on the back end. They also might have to fill a right-handed hole on defense, as Jani Hakanpää would be the only right-hander left in Dallas. “I’m going to keep in touch with John’s representative,” Nill said. “We talked, and John’s got an opportunity to be a free agent and I don’t blame him. He’s got to look after his family and that. He’s going to see what the market is. We’ll see what the market is, and get a feel for that and see if it’s a fit for both parties or not.” The Stars could look at contracts to Torey Krug , Hampus Lindholm , Colton Parayko , Mattias Ekholm or even Morgan Rielly as comparable deals. Meanwhile, Klingberg — whose averaged 23 minutes a game in his career — watched top-pair defensemen get paid last summer. Seth Jones got eight years at $9.5 million a year. Dougie Hamilton got $9 million a season across seven years. Darnell Nurse re-signed in Edmonton for $9.25 million a year across eight seasons.Perhaps both sides see what’s out there, and prefer the known quantity of a Dallas-Klingberg marriage at a palatable figure for both sides. In 2015, Klingberg signed his seven-year deal with a $4.25 million cap hit that he’s greatly outperformed. Since then, Klingberg’s life has also changed. He’s engaged with one daughter, and another one on the way. “When I first signed that seven-year deal, I didn’t expect myself to get a seven-year deal,” Klingberg said. “I thought it was going to be, probably, a one or two-year deal. When they wanted to sign me long-term, at that time seven years ago, I was obviously surprised and very happy that they showed that they wanted me for seven years.
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