Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

John Klingberg can’t be ignored, especially after Saturday

John Klingberg

John Klingberg

AP

The Dallas Stars already have two of the highest scoring forwards in Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn, but don’t sleep on their high-octane defenseman.

John Klingberg was already making a serious impression, yet Saturday’s performance may have been a true breakout for those who were reluctant to hop on the bandwagon.

In a 3-2 overtime victory for the Stars against the Minnesota Wild, Klingberg factored into every goal, including scoring the OT game-winner.

With that three-point outburst, Klingberg now comfortably leads all NHL defensemen with an impressive 20 points. He’s also among the top scorers in the league, as he’s in a three-way tie for sixth place with Taylor Hall and Blake Wheeler.

One needs to stretch to be pessimistic with Klingberg, and Dallas-area sports fans might get that familiar feeling, as maybe some will attribute his success to Benn and Seguin. It might not be far off from those decrying Emmitt Smith as a guy who merely benefited from a great offensive line.

As frustrating as that might be, the implication is that those people are likely jealous, and it’s easy to see why.

Benn, Seguin and Klingberg are all on cheap contracts and they’re all young. Specifically with Klingberg, he’s 23 and locked up with a killer $4.25 million cap hit through 2021-22.

In other words, critics better hope that Klingberg isn’t as promising as he looks.