The Minnesota Wild have acquired defenceman John Klingberg from the Anaheim Ducks, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, in a deal that was completed shortly before Friday’s 3 p.m. ET / noon PT trade deadline passed.
Wild reporter Joe Smith was first to report Anaheim is receiving defenceman Andrej Sustr, a 2025 fourth-round draft pick plus the rights to forward Nikita Nesterenko in return for Klingberg.
Half of Klingberg's cap hit will be retained by Anaheim as part of the deal.
The Ducks traded fellow defenceman Dmitry Kulikov with 50 per cent salary retention to the Pittsburgh Penguins earlier in the day for Brock McGinn and a third-round pick.
Minnesota added Oskar Sundqvist from Detroit and sent Jordan greenway to Buffalo in the team’s other deadline day deals.
Klingberg, a 30-year-old right-shot blueliner, has eight goals and 16 assists in 50 games this season. A fifth-round draft pick, 131st overall, of the Stars in 2010, he has 79 goals and 319 assists for 396 points in 602 career games with Dallas and Anaheim.
After leaving Dallas as a free agent in 2022, Klingberg signed a one-year pact over the summer with rebuilding Anaheim to re-establish his value, but it's been a bit of a struggle.
Despite getting heavy shift starts in the offensive zone, Klingberg has one of the worst expected-goals-percentage rates on the Ducks. A pure offensive player, Klingberg will, nonetheless, help on the power play. The Wild currently have the 10th-ranked power play scoring at 22.9 per cent efficiency.
Nesterenko is in his third year with Boston College where the 21-year-old has 30 points in 32 games this season. He was a sixth-round pick of the Wild in 2019.
Sustr has spent this season in the AHL.
With files from Sportsnet’s Rory Boylen
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