Dallas Stars defenceman John Klingberg was hoping that he would not be in the position he finds himself in.
The pending free agent has been trying to negotiate a contract extension with the Stars but there has been no progress according to the defenceman. On top of that, there was a report that he requested a trade.
“I don’t think it’s entireley true. It’s not like I’ve been going out there and asking ‘I want to get traded now,’ or something like that,” Klingberg told reporters on Saturday. “It’s something that’s been going on with the negotiations and stuff like that. I’m not going to lie, it’s been a few frustrating years individually.
“…Other guys have signed right before the season before. I wanted to do that as well. Lately, it has been going more quietly and quietly. For me, as a player, I don’t feel that I’ve been appreciated in that way when we don’t even negotiate. It’s quiet. For me, as a player, my agent, we talked to Jim (Nill) a couple months back. He agreed that we could start talking with other GMs and see where we were at. Negotiation-wise, the Stars have been very quiet.”
John Klingberg spoke out on his rumoured trade request. pic.twitter.com/rhqqzcjsV1
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 8, 2022
Klingberg added that the Stars presented him with one offer multiple months ago and haven’t moved at all despite numerous attempts from his agent to try and adjust years and salary in order to get a deal done.
Back on Oct. 16, Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek reported that Klingberg was looking for a deal worth between $62 to $66 million on an eight-year term.
The 29-year-old is in the final season of his seven-year, $29 million deal. Klingberg was selected in the fifth round of the 2010 NHL Draft and has recorded 327 points in 479 career games.
Klingberg’s best season with the Stars was 2017-18, when he had 67 points in 82 games. He was also a big contributor when Dallas made a run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2020, with 21 points in 26 games.
The Stars locked up Miro Heiskanen to an eight-year contract worth $67.6 million this past off-season and have Esa Lindell locked up until the 2024-25 season. As Marek noted, Dallas made it a point to address the blue line and potentially prepare for a situation where Klingberg leaves in free agency by signing Ryan Suter and Jani Hakanpää to three-year deals.
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