32 year old defenceman John Klingberg will be signing a contract to return to the NHL in the next week, and his deal is expected to include some bonuses.
An inside source has named the Oilers as the clear front runner to land Klingberg, meaning any bonuses in his contract would apply to Edmonton's tight cap situation next season.
John Klingberg Contract Expected to Include Performance Bonuses
According to a new update from TSN's Ryan Rishaug, a one-year contract with Klingberg will include bonuses, and with Edmonton's LTIR situation, they could apply next season.
This would create a level of risk that comes with signing Klingberg, which should make the Oilers pause to consider if this is truly worth it.
Klingberg is 32 years old and coming off of hip surgery that forced him out of almost all of the last two seasons.
It does depend on what the bonuses are, but it may be a games played bonus like Connor Brown's brutal contract last year.
However, no matter what the amount the bonus would be would have an affect on the Oilers - from $250K to $1M.
After paying for the expected raises for Connor McDavid and Ty Emberson, the Oilers are expected to have $6.25M to sign or replace Evander Kane, Corey Perry, Connor Brown, Jeff Skinner, Kasperi Kapanen, Noah Philp, and more.
Signing Klingberg to a one or two year deal at league minimum brings next to no risk, and would allow the Oilers to give him some time in the lineup before the trade deadline.
That's a much more preferable situation for Edmonton, instead of paying bonuses next year for a player that may not even be good. The Oilers should be careful to minimize their risk here, but still, the ceiling with signing Klingberg could be high.
