John Klingberg
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Birthday:
1992-08-14 |
Position:
D |
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Eligible for draft:
2010 |
Shoots:
Right |
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Drafted:
2010 |
Height:
6-1 |
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Acquired:
5th Round (131st Overall), 2010 |
Weight:
172 lbs. |
Prospect Talent Score
Probability of Success
- D
History
2008-09: John Klingberg, brother of Winnipeg Jet’s prospect Carl, began his season with Goteborg of TV-Pucken. He picked up 2 assists in 8 games. He then moved on to Frolunda’s J18 team Elit and Allsvenskan teams. With the Elit club, he scored 3 goals and added 8 assists in 16 games. In the Allsvenskan, Klingberg picked up 4 assists in 14 games.
2009-10: Klingberg played his second year bouncing between levels with Frolunda. Once again, Klingberg played with both the Elit and Allsvenskan J18 clubs. With the Elit club, Klingeberg scored 2 goals and 4 assists in 10 games. In the Allsvenskan, he scored 1 goal and 9 assists in 10 games. Klingberg then advanced to the J20 club in the SuperElit league. In 27 games he scored 5 assists and added 32 PIMs.
2010-11: John Klingberg saw quite a bit of time more than many expected at the Elitserien level with Vastra Frolunda. He also spent some of the season with Frolunda’s J20 team in the SuperElit league. His 17 points were just five off the team lead among blueliners, but that’s with a 28-game handicap. 17 points in 13 season games, plus 11 points in 7 playoff games (clinching playoff MVP honors along the way) suggest that Klingberg has fully graduated to professional status. Klingberg played sparingly at Sweden’s top level (notching five assists and a minus-3 rating) but has shown a good deal of potential. The Dallas fifth round pick also represented Sweden at the World Junior Championships. He was a relative unknown going into his draft year and now is a fairly major commodity. He has signed with Jokerit (SM-Liiga) to prepare himself for more physical contests ahead.
2011-12: Signed to a three-year entry-level contract by the Stars in May 2011, Klingberg was loaned to Jokerit in Finland's SM-Liiga but saw limited ice time; returning to Sweden to play for Skelleftea following the 2012 U20 World Junior Championship. Klingberg was plus-one with 1 goal and 2 assists and had 8 penalty minutes in 20 games with Jokerit. He played six games on loan to Mestis (Finnish second league) club Kiekko-Vantaa (1 goal, 4 assists) and one game with the Jokerit U20 team while in Finland. He skated in 16 Elitserien games for Skelleftea after returning to Sweden and was minus-one with 1 goal and 3 assists. Skelleftea reached the playoff finals after finishing second in the Elitserien. Averaging almost 16 minutes of ice time per game in the playoffs, Klingberg had 4 assists and was minus-six with 14 penalty minutes in 16 games. Playing in the 2012 WJC tournament for gold-medal winning Sweden had 3 assists and was plus-one in 6 games.
Talent Analysis
Mobile offensive-minded defenseman that displays good on-ice awareness. Rushes the puck well and makes quality passes. Has very good vision and hockey sense. Likes to join the offensive rush. Needs to bulk up a lot more, he is very light on his skates and is easily knocked off the puck. Skates very well with a good stride. Good determination. Needs to improve his defensive game still and his ability to handle physicality.
Potential: #4/#5 offensive defenseman, like a smaller, less talented version of Tomas Kaberle.
Future
Will play for Skelleftea (SEL) in 2012-13.
