Former Maple Leafs defenceman announces retirement after 12 seasons in NHL

Former all-star and Stanley Cup finalist called it a career on Friday after playing 12 seasons in NHL including one in Toronto.

Published Sep 11, 2026  •  Last updated 16 minutes ago  •  1 minute read

Ilya Samsonov and John Klingberg of the Toronto Maple Leafs celebrate a win after a game in 2023. Getty Images

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After a 12-year NHL career, which included one season with the Maple Leafs, John Klingberg announced his retirement on Friday.

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The native of Gothenburg, Sweden, played in Toronto during the 2023-24 season, getting off to a solid start before being worn down by a hip injury.

He was eventually placed on the long-term injury reserve in November after playing through pain for a month, and later underwent season-ending surgery.

Klingberg began his NHL career with the Dallas Stars, showing great skills as an offensive defenceman while helping lead the team to the Stanley Cup final in 2020.

He made his sole all-star game appearance during the 2017-18 season, when he had a career-high 67 points while playing all 82 regular-season games.

The 6-foot-2 blueliner also played for the Anaheim Ducks, Minnesota Wild and Edmonton Oilers before wrapping up his career with the San Jose Sharks last season. His final game was the 700th of his career.

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The NHLPA announced Klingberg’s retirement with a post on social media celebrating the milestone.

For his career, the defender scored 92 goals and tallied 351 assists for 443 points. He also had 287 penalty minutes and was a minus-53 while averaging 22:25 minutes of ice time per game.

After earning $4 million US on a one-year deal with San Jose last season, Klingberg made more than $47 million over the course of his career, according to Spotrac.

What was Klingberg’s international record?

During his career, Klingberg also got the call to represent his home country on multiple occasions at the junior and senior levels.

He was part of the Swedish team which won the 2012 world junior championship and then captured back-to-back golds at the 2017 and 2018 world championships. At the latter tournament, he took home Best Defenceman honours.

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