Dallas came into this season with some questions on the defensive end. The Stars were very young along the blue line and needed someone to step up. John Klingberg, the young man from Sweden, has stepped up and become a top pair defenseman for the Stars this season as he has won a well-deserved rookie of the month honor for January.
Klingberg follows up three winners from earlier this season—Tanner Pearson of the Los Angeles Kings in October, Filip Forsberg of the Predators in November, and Johnny Gaudreau of the Calgary Flames from December.
The young Swede has nine goals and 15 assists (24 points) this season in 35 games. This month proved to be his best yet, as he led all rookies with 13 points (five goals and eight assists), capped off with a two-goal and two-assist performance at Winnipeg to close out the month. It was his second multi-goal game of the month, along with scoring two goals against Ottawa on January 13th.
Klingberg is the fourth defenseman in franchise history to rack up 20-plus points, joining Brad Maxwell (47 in 77-78), Matt Niskanen (26 in 07-08), and Shawn Chambers (24 in 88-89). He will pass Niskanen without a problem, but if he keeps playing like he did in January, he might be able to not only make a run at Maxwell, but keep Dallas in the playoff hunt in the tough Western Conference.