I was tempted to just type his name, paste the below excerpt, and paste his name again before going into the links. I don’t think I can overstate just how revelatory Klingberg’s debut has been this year. From that gorgeous first goal in Arizona to his long-distance tally against Edmonton (of course), Klingberg’s elite skill and jaw-dropping play have given us a much-needed slice of heaven in a rather dark and dreary season.
But guess what? Klingberg isn’t just amazing as a rookie defenseman. He is, in fact, right up there with the best in the league, period. One Josh Lile puts it thusly:
Klingberg is fourth in rookie scoring as a defenseman. Among defensemen, Klingberg leads recent No. 1 overall pick Aaron Ekblad in points by a close margin, despite playing in 13 less games.
As impressive as that is, it doesn’t even show the full picture. He’s tied for 22nd in points. He’s top ten in points per game. The kid is in elite company already.
It’s actually even a bit more impressive than that when we take out secondary assists and power-play scoring. Just looking at even strength primary production, we see that Klingberg is leading all defensemen at 1.19 goals and primary assists per 60 minutes.
It’s worth noting that his 12 percent shooting percentage is ridiculously high for a defenseman, so the numbers are a bit skewed unless he can continue taking shots from in close, but he has been an offensive dynamo so far.
[WFAA]
There’s more juicy stuff about our favorite Swedish defenseman in that link, so please give it a read. It will do you good on a Monday.
Also, John Klingberg.
* * * * *
I’m seeing this stupid “all hockey hair team” video all over the place. First of all, shouldn’t it be “all-hair” team? Or “all-time hair team”? Regardless, I have a tough time not rolling my eyes at it, but everyone else seems to think it’s hilarious, so I guess you can be the judge. The coach comment did make me laugh a bit, to be fair.
Brenden Morrow is trying to channel Kirk Muller in his reduced role on the playoffs-bound Lightning squad. Can’t say I’m not rooting for Minimo to get a deep playoff run this year. Such a great guy. [DMN]
Jamie Oleksiak has been recalled, which suggests that Klingberg may not be ready for Tuesday’s game. We should know more after practice today. [Stars]
The Stars are 0-14-0 when Kari Lehtonen is not the starter. The Stars have also had trouble this year when Lehtonen is the starter. Mike Heika has some pretty candid thoughts about what might have to happen in goal (or the coaching staff) after the season ends. [DMN]
Tyler Seguin hit the 30-goal mark again, in case you weren’t paying attention. [THN]
The Hockey News listed the Stars’ top ten prospects, and it’s not what I expected at all. Care to guess number one without looking? [Twit Longer]
Patrick Roy is not a fan of Minnesota Wild beat reporter Mike Russo. [Pro Hockey Talk]
Stephane Robidas is done for the year, as the stalwart defenseman will have shoulder surgery this week. Nazem Kadri may also be done for, well, at least the next game after missing (or showing up late for) a team meeting. Did Kadri forget that it’s not “fall forward, spring back”? [Toronto Sun]
Two pretty bonkers games yesterday. First, the Flames came back from a four-goal third period deficit to force Ottawa to a shootout, which the Senators would eventually win. I recommend watching this shootout if you can, and not just because David Schlemko had another game-winner ring off the post. Plenty o’ drama. [Senators]
Then we have the Carolina-Edmonton tilt with two hat tricks, as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Elias Lindholm both potted three goals (though one of Lindholm’s was an empty-netter). The really crazy thing about this game was that Edmonton went up 3-0 early before completely abandonding any pretense of playing hockey en route to a 7-4 defeat. Wow. [NHL]
Alexander Semin also scored a properly goofball goal whilst lying upon the ice. [Puck Daddy]
Penguins‘ property Matt Murray just set an AHL record for longest shutout streak at over 300 scoreless minutes. This goalie might be good. [THN]
I loved, loved, loved this collection of the greatest hockey photos of all time. Seriously, a lot of those black and white beauties will be hung in my basement someday if I can ever afford to buy a house in a state other than Louisiana. [Greatest Hockey Legends]
Finally, check out this nice game-winning goal by Stars prospect Matej Mapulovic:
[GIF] @DallasStars prospect @MPaulovic (@MuskegonJacks) has a 3-point night, including this GWG #USHL pic.twitter.com/PfXXBzTHYQ
— USHL (@USHL) March 8, 2015