Elliotte Friedman is convinced he knows which team wins John Klingberg sweepstakes!

The secret has been out since the start of the 2022-23 season : the Edmonton Oilers are looking to improve on the back end. Pierre LeBrun recently reported that the Oilers have talked internally about Montreal Canadiens’ Joel Edmundson and Anaheim Ducks’ John Klingberg as two possibilities to fill the void.

But Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman is convinced he knows where the latter will be playing after the trade deadline! He put his prediction out there at the start of the season and it sounds like he could be right on the money!

“This is just my prediction, (John) Klingberg finishes the year in Edmonton. I could be wrong. That’s my prediction”.

It was recently reported how much time Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek was spending watching the Oilers play, with some reporters hinting at the possibility that Anaheim could get in the mix to acquire the services of forward Jesse Puljujarvi.

Though it would take more than just the Finnish forward to get Klingberg out of California.

Klingberg has put three goals and 10 points in 24 games this season with the Ducks, who currently sit second last in the NHL standings with 19 points. He is signed at a cap hit of $7 million on the expiring deal he inked as a free agent this summer and could be looking to join a contender for a long run in the postseason.

However to be that tip contender, the Oilers will need to improve, especially on the blue line. Edmonton currently holds the top the wild-card spot in the Western Conference with a 17-13-1 record through 31 games.

The Oilers are also dealing with a tight budget, already into LTIR spending. According to Cap Friendly, Edmonton has just under $1.6 million of cap space with Evander Kane’s $5.125 million cap hit shelved. The problem is that Kane is likely to return to the lineup prior to the March 3 trade deadline.

A trade between Anaheim and Edmonton for Klingberg might need to involve more Oilers’ pieces or that the Ducks absorb some of the defenseman’s salary in the transaction.

But this does not seem to shake Friedman’s confidence that Klingberg will join Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl around the trade deadline.

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