The Edmonton Oilers’ one-year deal with John Klingberg is official with details of his contract now coming out.
According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, who was first to break the news and was all over it this week, Klingberg’s contract with carry a $1-million pro-rated salary, and $350,000 in bonuses. That bonus, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli added, is a signing bonus, not a performance bonus.
Given his contract is pro-rated, his deal will carry a $1.74-million cap hit, according to PuckPedia.
The Oilers will need to send a player down to the American Hockey League to have their roster be compliant, and Josh Brown getting demoted is the most likely option. The team will remain dipped into their Long-Term Injured Reserve pool, meaning they won’t be able to accrue cap space. In fact, even if the Oilers returned Brown and Noah Philp to the AHL, it wouldn’t get them back under the salary cap.
It’s hard to look at the signing as anything other than a win for the Oilers, even given that. The deal is cheap, and the lack of a performance bonus is a plus. Whenever he’s ready for game action, he’ll likely slot in on the Oilers’ second pair alongside Darnell Nurse, who has always played his best when he’s had a strong puck-mover beside him.
Should Klingberg agree to it, the team could also send him to the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors on a conditioning loan to get his feet underneath him, but there’s been no indication yet as to how close he is to game action. Given the length of time he’s missed since his last game in November 2023, well over a year ago, it would make sense for the acclimation to be slow.
Edmonton could’ve brought Klingberg in on a professional tryout and given him the chance to be around the team, and practice and then the team could’ve gauged where he was at in his recovery from there. Instead, their decision to sign him to the deal should offer some hope that they are optimistic in terms of where his recovery is.
The best-case scenario is that Klingberg returns to form and that the drop off in his play during his time with the Anaheim Ducks, Minnesota Wild and Toronto Maple Leafs was due to his injury. Patrick Kane underwent a hip resurfacing surgery and has racked up 31 goals and 76 points in 89 games since joining the Detroit Red Wings. It would mean the Oilers essentially got a top-six, potentially top-four defenceman for free.
And if things don’t pan out that way, the team — at the very least — has acquired a veteran defenceman who could play as a sixth or seventh defenceman better than Josh Brown.
Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter, currently known as X, at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.
