With Anthony Stolarz out, Matt Murray will play in an NHL game for the first time since Apr. 2, 2023 Former Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman John Klingberg is attempting a comeback to the NHL. The 32-year-old defenseman hasn't played an NHL game since Nov. 11, 2023, against the Vancouver Canucks. One month after that game, Toronto GM Brad Treliving revealed that Klingberg would have bilateral hip surgery, taking him out of commission for the rest of the 2023-24 season. According to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman on Saturday Headlines, the veteran defenseman will try and return to the NHL, likely at some point during the new year. "Sometime after Christmas, he's going to resume skating with a junior team. Now, he has seen the hip surgeon that did Patrick Kane's hips. He's skating with the same people that brought Patrick Kane back and he does want to resume his career," Friedman reported. "He's looking to potentially join a team after Christmas, probably closer to the end of January, but is going to join a junior team first to skate. And he is hoping to come back to the NHL." Klingberg signed a one-year, $4.15 million contract with the Maple Leafs on July 1, 2023. He played 14 games with Toronto, registering four assists and averaging 20:33 of ice time under former Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe. The Gothenburg, Sweden native has appeared in 633 NHL games. In that span, he's scored 81 goals and 331 assists for 412 points, split between the Maple Leafs, Dallas Stars, Anaheim Ducks, and Minnesota Wild. "I texted him last month to see how he's doing and that's what he told me. He's going to start skating with the junior team. He needs the right partner because John is a puck-moving defenseman, he's going to be coming up all the time. For him to be really effective, he needs the right partner," former coach of Klingberg Rick Bowness said on Sportsnet during the second intermission. "Now, can he skate and move the puck and everything else? Yeah, so you hope that hip surgery has helped him because I know when he played for us in Dallas, we had issues with that. He had a tough time with it."
