Rumor: John Klingberg and the Dallas Stars nearing a trade.

It wasn't so long ago that we first began to hear rumblings regarding the possibility of a trade involving Dallas Stars defenseman John Klingberg, and it would now appear as though since those rumors went public things have begun to quickly unravel in Dallas.

Klingberg reportedly has demanded a trade after his camp and the Dallas Stars failed to come to terms on a new contract extension, although we now know that his trade request may have actually come earlier in the season. It seems that the two sides are no closer to coming to terms on a new deal, and Klingberg has since expressed publicly that he doesn't feel the Stars value him highly enough.

On Saturday during the National Hockey League broadcast of the game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and St. Louis Blues, NHL reporter Jeff Marek commented on the ongoing situation with Klingberg. It was there that Marek revealed his belief that a trade will now happen sooner rather than later, with both the Stars and Klingberg seemingly ready to put this all behind them.

"We can report today that the Dallas Stars have stepped up their efforts to trade John Klingberg, we believe very much that he is getting dealt, hard to say exactly when but Dallas does seem aggressive in wanting to get something done soonish," said Marek on Saturday night.

Marek also reported that things appear to have deteriorated in Dallas with the Stars now putting Klingberg in a position that doesn't appear particularly well suited to his skillset.

"The saga continues and last week we talked about the trade request for Klingberg which goes back to late November or early December and he offered up comments last weekend as well saying at times he felt he wasn't appreciated by the Dallas Stars," said Marek. "Dallas is playing Tampa tonight and John Klingberg now finds himself on the third pair with Joel Hanley, not a great situation for Klingberg."

I don't see how that is going to help the Stars trade him, but considering they may still believe they are in contention for the Stanley Cup Playoffs they may simply want to get their top 4 defensemen acclimated to playing without Klingberg in the picture.

One thing seems certain, Klingberg's time in Dallas is running out.