John Klingberg began practicing with the Edmonton Oilers this week, joining his new teammates on the ice for the first time since signing a one-year, $1 million pro-rated contract last Friday (Jan. 17).
The veteran blueliner last suited up for an NHL game in November 2023, when he was a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Klingberg missed the last several months of the 2023-24 season after being placed on long-term injured reserve with a hip injury.
Based on practice footage shared on social media, Klingberg appears fully recovered. One clip shows the 32-year-old defending superstar centre Connor McDavid and doing a pretty good job at it.
While speaking to media on Wednesday (Jan. 22), Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said Klingberg will play his first game “sometime next week.” The Oilers host the Seattle Kraken on Jan. 27, the Detroit Red Wings on Jan. 30, and the Maple Leafs on Feb. 1.
The Swedish rearguard’s insertion into the lineup for the Oilers means someone will have to come out, but who? That’s an intriguing question that might not be so easily answered.
Bouchard’s Spot is Safe
Klingberg plays the right side defensively, and Edmonton’s current defensive pairs feature Evan Bouchard, Troy Stecher and Ty Emberson on the right.
Bouchard, regarded as one of the best offensive defencemen in the NHL, is averaging a team-high 23:32 of ice time on the top pairing opposite Mattias Ekholm. It won’t be him who comes out of the lineup.
That leaves Stecher and Emberson. Stecher has been playing recently alongside Darnell Nurse, while Emberson has partnered with Brett Kulak.
Emberson May Have Edge
Nominally speaking, Stecher plays on Edmonton’s second pairing, while Emberson is part of the third pair. So theoretically, Emberson would be the first to come out of the lineup.
Except Emberson actually gets more minutes than Stecher, especially lately. Over the last 12 games, Emberson is averaging 14:53 per game compared to 11:53 for Stecher. Emberson is also a huge part of Edmonton’s penalty kill, averaging 1:46 short-handed ice time, second most on the team this season, while Stecher averages less than half a minute per game.
Emberson is Edmonton’s pleasant surprise of 2024-25. The 24-year-old has made massive strides since the beginning of the season and really come into his own recently. He has potential to become a terrific shutdown defenceman for the Oilers and could be someone that plays a key role this coming postseason.
At age 30, Stecher is what he is; a sound blueliner with more than 500 games of NHL experience who has mostly been sixth or seventh on the defensive depth chart of every team he’s played for the last several years.
Emberson really doesn’t provide anything offensively (zero goals and seven assists this season), but neither does Stecher (three goals, three assists in 2024-25).
Oilers Could Roll With 7 D-Men
Another possibility could see the Oilers dress an extra blueliner for Klingberg’s first games. Edmonton has gone with the seven-11 (defenceman/forwards) lineup twice recently, on Jan. 13 against the Los Angeles Kings and Jan. 18 against the Vancouver Canucks, with Josh Brown joining Bouchard, Ekholm, Nurse, Stecher, Kulak and Emberson on the back end. The addition of Klingberg could likely mean Brown will return to the American Hockey League (AHL), where he has spent the majority of this season, with the Bakersfield Condors.
Related: 5 Things to Know About New Oilers Defenceman John Klingberg
There is also the question of who Klingberg will play with. He has always been known for his offensive abilities, particularly moving the puck, and judging by practice footage, still possesses a tremendous shot. On the other hand, Klingberg’s defensive game was never his strong suit to begin with, and if anything, will have only now been diminished by age and injury.
Klingberg has actually lined up alongside Ekholm in the past, on Team Sweden at the World Championship, but the newcomer won’t be playing on Edmonton’s top pairing. It might make sense to put Klingberg with the defensively responsible Kulak, leaving Nurse as a logical match for Emberson or Stecher. In either case, the duo would complement each other.
Edmonton will play at least two more times before Klingberg’s debut. The Oilers host Vancouver tonight (Jan. 23) and the Seattle Kraken on Saturday (Jan. 25) at Rogers Place. It goes without saying that in these next couple games, Stecher and Emberson could very well be playing to maintain their spot in the lineup.
