The Anaheim Ducks have traded defenseman John Klingberg to the Minnesota Wild for a fourth-round pick in 2025, defenseman Andrej Sustr, and the rights to Nikita Nesterenko.

The Wild receive: Klingberg, in a trade that was submitted to the league right before the 3 pm ET horn sounded. Klingberg was signed to a one-year, $7 million contract in the offseason with the assumption that the lottery-bound Ducks would likely flip him for futures by the trade deadline. Klingberg is an offensive-minded power-play specialist, but he has disappointed with 24 points and six power-play points and a dreadful minus-28 in 50 games this season.

The Ducks receive: Because Klingberg has struggled in his only season in Anaheim, the Ducks didn't receive nearly the haul they had to be hoping for when they first signed him. Instead, they receive a mid-round pick in two years, a 32-year-old defenseman who has spent the entire season in the AHL, and an unsigned 2019 sixth-round pick (Nesterenko's Dobber Prospects profile). On top of that, the Ducks will also retain 50% of Klingberg's salary.

Fantasy players impacted: Klingberg had especially struggled during the first half of the season (15 PTS in 41 GP), but he has turned it up recently with nine points in his last nine games. Despite the recent spike, Klingberg's power-play time had declined, losing the first unit spot to Cam Fowler. Regardless, the Ducks' league-worst power play (15.6 PP%) was the wrong place for a player of Klingberg's skill set.

One key question is whether Klingberg or Calen Addison will be on the Wild's first-unit power play. Addison has struggled defensively during his rookie season, but 18 of Addison's 28 points are on the power play. Needless to say, the Wild could deploy Klingberg on either PP1 or PP2, as they could use a second defenseman on their second unit beside Jared Spurgeon. The Wild have a significantly better power play than the Ducks (10^th overall, 22.9 PP%), which should help Klingberg's value anyway. Another consideration will be that the Wild will have eight d-men once Jonas Brodin returns from injury, which could result in Addison being healthy scratched. Then it would seem as though Klingberg would be on PP1 for sure.

Players this helps, in order:

Klingberg

Fowler

Kevin Shattenkirk

Players this hurts, in order:

Addison

Spurgeon

Brodin

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