Rumor: Trade talk picking up around Dallas Stars defenseman John Klingberg.
Teams have come calling for Klingberg.
Things had been relatively quiet on the trade front leading into this past week in the National Hockey League but now, with roughly a quarter of the season having been played out, you get the sense that things are about to get moving once again.
Just yesterday we saw the Ottawa Senators pull off a stunning move when they sent two time Stanley Cup winner Matt Murray to waivers, we've heard rumblings of a potential trade involving San Jose Sharks forward Evander Kane, and now the latest comes to us in the form of rumors surrounding Dallas Stars defenseman John Klingberg.
The source for this rumor is NHL insider Jeff Marek, who on Saturday night revealed that several teams around the league had come calling about the availability of Klingberg.
"Trade chatter is starting to pick up and a lot of it revolves around John Klingberg of the Dallas Stars," said Marek on Saturday night's NHL broadcast. "A few teams have expressed interest there, have contacted the Dallas Stars, he's on the final year of a contract and looking for an extension, 8 years somewhere in the mid 60s [million] and Dallas is not there right now."
It is anyone's guess as to which teams may be on the list, but Marek did reveal one of the teams that he believes is currently in the hunt for Klingberg.
"The one team that we know that has called, are the Carolina Hurricanes," said Marek. "It's a team that is always looking for quality hockey players and as we know looking for superstar players. This is a team that was in the Jack Eichel sweepstakes when he was available from the Buffalo Sabres, the owner likes stars, the hockey operations department likes good players."
The move certainly makes sense from the perspective of a Stanley Cup Contender like the Hurricanes, but what about the Stars themselves? It may very well be that management feels trading Klingberg before his contract expires makes more sense than losing him for nothing, but the decision to trade Klingberg could also be motivated by the team's performance.
The Stars currently sit outside of a playoff spot, trailing the Nashville Predators by a single point, and if they continue to trend in that direction the move could become a no-brainer for Stars general manager Jim Nill.
