After a 4-2 series win over the Los Angeles Kings, the Edmonton Oilers are off to the second round to face the Vegas Golden Knights. While stars like Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Evan Bouchard led the charge in the L.A. series, the Oilers also got big contributions from some unexpected players in the opening round, and one of them was John Klingberg.

The Oilers signed Klingberg in January to a one-year deal after a lengthy rehab from a hip injury. While he posted four points in 11 regular-season games, his play had its ups and downs as he worked to shake off the rust. He also missed the last 10 games of the regular season after blocking a shot in March and suffering an ankle injury, and given the combination of inconsistent regular-season play and missed time, I’ll admit that my expectations for the 32-year-old weren’t exactly high heading into the postseason.

Klingberg had a reputation as a premier offensive defenceman during his time with the Dallas Stars (2014-22), and teams like the Anaheim Ducks, Minnesota Wild, and Toronto Maple Leafs took a chance on him after his time in Dallas, but after one-season stints, they didn’t bring him back.

Yet, I’d imagine the version of him that Oilers fans saw in the opening round against L.A. — where he walked the blue line and moved the puck with poise — was exactly what those teams hoped he’d be for them. That said, the hip surgery he underwent in December 2023 seems to have done the trick. With a key cog on the Oilers’ blue line, Mattias Ekholm, out of the lineup, the team needed someone to step up. Enter Klingberg, who answered the call and was a difference maker against the Kings.

He made his series debut in Game 2 after missing a month of action, stepping in during a game where the Kings jumped out to a 3-0 lead. As the Oilers tried to claw back in the second period, that’s when the blueliner’s silky puck movement started to shine.

He kept the puck in a couple of times at the blue line, then walked the line and took it to the middle, drawing two Kings toward him. That opened up a lane, where he made a brilliant shot-pass to Leon Draisaitl, who got the Oilers on the board. Despite the 6–2 loss, Klingberg played 18:38 minutes, blocked three shots, and earned a well-deserved assist.

Klingberg gained momentum from Game 2 onward. He played 17:49 of mostly calm minutes in the 7-4 Game 3 win, and his ice time jumped to 26:08 in the 4-3 overtime victory in Game 4, where he was solid once again. The only blemish came in the third period, when he gave the puck away to Warren Foegele in front of the Oilers’ net. At first glance, it might seem like a brutal giveaway, but a second look shows that Foegele deserves credit for making a smart read. He knew his former team’s tendency was for D-men to pass to the open man in front, and he intercepted the puck perfectly.

Yet, with the Oilers heading into Game 5 with momentum on their side, they put together their strongest performance of the season with a 3-1 win, and Klingberg played a key role in that, in what I believe was his best game as an Oiler so far.

The Kings struck first, but the Oilers tied it up in the second period when the D-man kept the puck in at the blue line once again. With two Kings pressuring him, Klingberg made a superb pass to Evander Kane, who buried it past Darcy Kuemper.

He played 18:36 in Game 5, earned an assist, registered five shots on goal, and threw three hits. Also, the advanced stats show just how impactful he was, as the Oilers outchanced L.A. 16-1 in scoring chances and 10-1 in high-danger chances while he was on the ice at 5v5. To top it off, we saw a gritty side of him when he got involved in a scrum in the first period, backing up his teammates, showing he’s dialled into playoff hockey.

In addition, Klingberg has many highlight reels of offensive plays throughout his career, but in Game 6, his most impressive moment came on the defensive end.

With the Oilers up by two and under six minutes left, a Kings player steamrolled Calvin Pickard, with no call on the play. As the action carried on, Klingberg made a huge block in front of the open net, then used every desperate move with his body, ending with him covering the puck in what can only be described as a starting snow angel pose, maybe muscle memory from wintry nights back home in Sweden, to keep the puck out of the net.

Overall, as Grammy Award winner Shakira famously once said, “Hips don’t lie,” and in the blueliner’s case, neither do the stats. Klingberg and his rebuilt hips told no lies in the opening round vs. the Kings, where he tallied two assists, ten blocks, and a +3 rating in five games.

Klingberg helped tilt the ice in the Oilers’ favour during the first round, and if the underlying stats he posted while playing with them are any indication, the Oilers’ dynamic duo of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl likely enjoy playing with him.

Here are some interesting stats from Natural Stat Trick when Klingberg was on the ice with McDavid and Draisaitl at 5v5 against the Kings:

By the eye test throughout the series, Klingberg was poised and moved the puck well, and it’s one of those cases where the numbers backed it up, with the Oilers’ scoring chances increasing when their two superstars were on the ice with him.

All things considered, I can’t be the only one who didn’t expect Klingberg to make as much of an impact as he did against the Kings, but he picked the perfect time to elevate his game, because the outcome of the series might’ve been different if he hadn’t stepped up. However, the D-man has a history of stepping up in the playoffs, and fortunately for the Oilers, they’re getting that version of him. You can see some of his clutch postseason moments right here.