If the Edmonton Oilers are looking to lighten the load on Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Evan Bouchard, John Klingberg is the kind of summer swing that fits the conversation.
The defenseman remains unsigned, and if that lasts, Edmonton could do worse than circling back on an offensive blueliner who can help a second power-play unit do real damage. The Oilers have made it clear they want more scoring spread through the lineup next season, and that means finding more than just the usual stars to drive offense when the top guys aren’t on the ice.
Klingberg isn’t the safest name on the board, and nobody is pretending he is. His game has changed after double hip resurfacing surgery in 2024, but the offensive tools are still there.
As Chris Johnston of The Athletic writes, “Klingberg may not move as well as he once did after double hip resurfacing surgery in 2024, but he’s shown that his offensive instincts are still intact, scoring 10 goals this past season with San Jose. Klingberg’s biggest strengths are a booming shot and an ability to move the puck quickly and effectively.
He can help out a power play, too.”
That kind of profile is exactly why he keeps coming up in these discussions. He can quarterback a power play, and on the blue line there are only so many players who can change a man-advantage the way he can. Edmonton already has a decent top-six, so this would be about adding another layer, not trying to reinvent the roster.
The fit gets more interesting because Klingberg was already with the Oilers during the 2024-25 season, appearing in 11 regular-season games and 19 more in the playoffs. He made $4 million with the San Jose Sharks this past season, but San Jose chose not to bring him back and instead added Darnell Nurse and Jacob Trouba.
The downside is obvious. Klingberg has never been known for his defensive work, and skating and foot speed remain the biggest concerns. Still, he scored 10 goals and finished with 27 points in 56 games for the Sharks last season, which is enough production to make a team pause.
So the real question is price. If Klingberg is waiting on a specific number, Edmonton probably isn’t the landing spot. If the market is thin and he’s open to a cheaper prove-it deal or even a PTO, then the Oilers could have a sensible low-risk option on their hands.
Does he make sense on a $2 million deal?
In Other News...
Sharks Front Office Just Sent A Big Signal On Celebrini
Macklin Celebrini is already on the clock for a new deal, and the early sense around the league is that San Jose would rather get ahead of the process than let it drag into a headline-making summer. Elliotte Friedman said the Sharks are likely to work toward an extension before the July 1 deadline, a move that would help them avoid the kind of offer-sheet drama that has started to hover around other young stars.
There is also a bigger-picture layer to the conversation, because any Celebrini extension would set the tone for how aggressively the Sharks want to build around him. Friedman noted the club has been tied to other roster upgrades as well, including the kind of defense help that can change a power play and stabilize a young core, so this is about more than just one contract. For San Jose, the next few months could say plenty about how fast it intends to turn its most important prospect into the face of the franchise. [Read more 🡒]
Did Sharks Do Enough To Make This Playoff Push Real
The Sharks spent the offseason trying to turn optimism into something sturdier, reshaping the roster with a clear eye toward the 2026-27 push. Mason Marchment, Jacob Trouba, Darnell Nurse and Michael Kesselring are among the additions, while a wave of familiar names is gone, leaving San Jose with a different look and a different level of expectation than it had a year ago.
The conversation now shifts to whether that makeover is enough to make the playoff chase feel real. Players sound encouraged about the direction, but Mike Grier has kept the focus on improvement rather than a hard postseason declaration, and the biggest questions still sit in the same places they did before: the defense and the goaltending. Yaroslav Askarov is expected to keep developing into a potential starter, with Alex Nedeljkovic back on a two-year extension and Eric Comrie added for depth, but the Sharks still have to prove the new pieces can hold up when the games tighten. [Read more 🡒]
Sharks Decision Just Changed The Darnell Nurse Conversation
San Joses blue-line search took a telling turn when the club settled on Darnell Nurse, a move that says plenty about what the Sharks wanted out of their next defenseman. Nurse brings the kind of physical, veteran profile that can handle top-pair minutes, while Morgan Rielly would have offered a more natural offensive fit, so the preference was less about flash and more about the type of presence the Sharks believe they need.
General manager Mike Grier has already pointed to the upside Nurse can bring, even as the defensemans previous market came with its own complications. For Rielly, the ripple effect matters too, because the list of realistic trade destinations appears to be getting smaller, which leaves his situation hanging a little longer than it might have otherwise. [Read more 🡒]