John Klingberg’s NHL run is over.
The former Minnesota Wild defenseman announced Friday that he is retiring from professional hockey after 12 seasons, closing the book on a career that spanned exactly 700 regular-season games and produced 92 goals, 351 assists and 443 points across six teams.
Klingberg, 34, finished with one last productive stretch in San Jose. In the 2025-26 season with the Sharks, he put up 10 goals and 17 assists for 27 points in 56 games, a reminder that the offense that defined his game was still there at the end.
For Wild fans, though, his name will be tied to a short but meaningful stint in Minnesota. The team acquired him from the Anaheim Ducks at the 2023 NHL trade deadline, sending defenseman Andrej Sustr, the rights to prospect Nikita Nesterenko and a fourth-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft to Anaheim, which retained 50 percent of Klingberg’s salary in the deal.
Klingberg suited up for 17 regular-season games with the Wild and posted two goals and seven assists for nine points. He then added a goal and three assists in four playoff games as Minnesota’s season ended against the Dallas Stars in six games in the first round.
In all, his Minnesota stop lasted 21 games between the regular season and playoffs, but it became part of Bill Guerin’s aggressive 2023 deadline haul that also brought Gustav Nyquist, Marcus Johansson and Oskar Sundqvist to the Wild.
Klingberg’s career included a Stanley Cup Final run and an All-Star nod, and now it ends after 12 NHL seasons with the defenseman officially hanging up his skates.
In Other News...
Wild Fans Should Be Watching This Quinn Hughes Warning Sign
The offseason has already produced one notable move around the league, with Chris Kreider landing in Montreal on a one-year deal after he and Anaheim mutually agreed to end his contract. For Minnesota fans, though, the more relevant subplot has nothing to do with Kreider and everything to do with the way Quinn Hughes is being discussed in the same breath as the Wilds long-term plans. Any time a player of that caliber becomes part of the conversation, it tends to sharpen the focus on how quickly a front office can turn a vague opportunity into a real one.
What makes this worth watching is the warning sign attached to the chatter around Hughes. The speculation is not just about whether he might eventually fit in Minnesota, but whether the larger pattern mirrors how Vancouver handled his departure, which is the kind of comparison no team wants hanging over its head. The Wild do not have an answer yet, and until they do, the noise around Hughes will keep growing louder, especially for a fan base eager to see whether this is real momentum or just another rumor cycle. [Read more 🡒]