Carl Klingberg (born 28 January 1991) is a Swedish professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

forward for

Ilves Tampereen Ilves, commonly known as Ilves, (; Finnish language, Finnish for "Eurasian lynx, Lynx") is a Finnish professional ice hockey team based in Tampere. They play in the Liiga at the Nokia Arena (Tampere), Nokia Arena. The colors of Ilves, ...

of the Finnish

Liiga The Liiga, colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. The league comprises 16 teams from all around Finland with relegation and promotion between the Mesti ...

Early life

Klingberg was born on 28 January 1991 in

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

, Sweden, and started playing ice hockey at an early age for Lerums BK. He has two younger brothers, both of whom are active hockey players as defencemen –

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

, who was drafted 131st overall in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft by the

Dallas Stars The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. The Stars compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The Stars ...

, and Olle, who is playing with Lerums BK.

Playing career

Klingberg made his debut in Sweden's top-tier SHL for

Frölunda HC Frölunda Hockey Club, previously known as the Frölunda Indians, is a Swedish professional ice hockey club based in Gothenburg. They currently play in the highest Swedish league, the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), formerly the Elitserien, where th ...

during the 2008-09 season. He was drafted in the second round, 34th overall, by the

Atlanta Thrashers The Atlanta Thrashers were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta. Atlanta was granted a franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL) on June 25, 1997, and became the League's 28th franchise when it began play in the 1999–2000 NHL sea ...

in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. After having finished the 2010-11 season with Timrå, Klingberg joined the Thrashers'

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

(AHL) affiliate the

Chicago Wolves The Chicago Wolves are a professional ice hockey team based in Rosemont, Illinois. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Wolves play home games at the Allstate Arena ...

. He made his AHL debut on 19 March in a 3–4 loss against the Oklahoma City Barons, and scored his first goal on 27 March in a 2–3 loss against the Rockford Icehogs. Klingberg was called up by the Thrashers to make his NHL debut in their last game of the season—and the franchise's last game as the Thrashers—on 10 April against the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. The Penguins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), E ...

. In the off-season, the Thrashers were sold and relocated to

Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

, where they became the second incarnation of the

Winnipeg Jets The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The Jets compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The te ...

. Klingberg's goal was to start the season with the Jets in the NHL, but on 30 September he was assigned to the Jets' AHL affiliate the

St. John's IceCaps The St. John's IceCaps were a professional ice hockey team based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. They were members of the North Division of the Eastern Conference of the American Hockey League (AHL). The team was originally aff ...

. Klingberg scored a goal in the IceCaps 4–1 win in their premier game against the Providence Bruins. He scored the IceCaps first goal on home ice, and another two for a hattrick in the IceCaps 6–2 win against the Hamilton Bulldogs, and another two goals in a 4–3 win over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers a few days later to start the season with six goals in six games. After having scored nine goals and 16 points in 20 games Klingberg was called up to the Jets, where he played six games in the NHL before being reassigned back to the IceCaps after the Jets had acquired forward

Antti Miettinen Antti Markus Miettinen (born July 3, 1980) is a Finnish people, Finnish ice hockey coach and former professional forward (ice hockey), forward, who last played professionally with HPK of the Liiga. He had previously played in the National ...

off waivers. Klingberg scored his first NHL goal on 11 April 2014 against Karri Ramo of the

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The ...

. In the 2014–15 season, Klingberg could not solidify a roster spot with the Jets. On 1 March 2015, he was traded to the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. The Rangers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team plays ...

for forward Lee Stempniak. Klingberg was assigned to the Rangers' AHL affiliate, the

Hartford Wolf Pack The Hartford Wolf Pack are a professional ice hockey team based in Hartford, Connecticut. A member of the American Hockey League (AHL), they play their home games at the PeoplesBank Arena. The team was established in 1926 as the Providence Reds. ...

for the remainder of the season. He contributed offensively with 11 points in 13 games. Without featuring for the Rangers, Klingberg, an impending restricted free agent, signed a one-year contract with Russian-based

Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod () is a professional ice hockey club in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. It is a member of the Bobrov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). The team's home arena is Trade Union Sport Palace. The team used to play it ...

of the

KHL The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; ) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs based in Russia (20), Belarus (1), Kazakhstan (1), and China (1) for a total of 23 clubs. It was considered in ...

on 21 June 2015. Following the 2015-16 season, he moved on to Switzerland, joining

EV Zug EV Zug is a professional men's ice hockey team from Zug, Switzerland. It is a member of the National League and plays its home games at the Bossard Arena. History EV Zug won its first championship in the 1997–98 season, and the second one in t ...

of the

National League A The National League (NL) is a professional ice hockey league in Switzerland and the highest level of the Swiss league system. Prior to the 2017–18 season, the league was known as National League A. During the 2018–19 season, the league h ...

(NLA) on a one-year deal on 30 June 2016. On 8 October 2016, Klingberg was suspended for one game and fined CHF 1,230 for a hit to the head of

EHC Kloten EHC Kloten is an ice hockey team based in the city of Kloten in Switzerland. The team plays in the National League (NL). It has one of the best youth systems in Swiss ice hockey as its youth teams have won 19 championships during the last 50 year ...

's Matthias Bieber. On 9 January 2017, Klingberg was once again suspended for one game by the SIHF and fined CHF 1,230 for a slew-footing on

HC Ambrì-Piotta Hockey Club Ambrì-Piotta is a Swiss professional ice hockey club and a member of the National League (NL). The club was founded September 19, 1937, and is also known as "Bianco-Blu" (English: white and blues). Though they have never won the leagu ...

Janne Pesonen Janne Tapani Pesonen (born 11 May 1982) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey winger who played for Oulun Kärpät of the Finnish Liiga. Playing career Pesonen began his career with Hokki in 1998, playing in the second-highest division ...

. On 2 May 2017, Klingberg agreed to a two-year contract extension with the Bulls. On 21 May 2019, Klingberg was signed to a two-year contract extension by Zug. On 26 June 2021, Klingberg signed a new two-year deal to remain with Zug through the 2022/23 season. After 12 seasons abroad, Klingberg returned to Frölunda in 2023, signing a two-year contract with the club. However, he produced only 17 points in 52 SHL regular-season games that year and was held pointless in 14 playoff contests. The following season saw an even further decline, with Klingberg scoring two goals and recording no assists through the team's first 17 games. On 23 November 2024, Klingberg was a healthy scratch for Frölunda's SHL game against

Rögle BK Rögle BK (Rögle Bandyklubb) is a Swedish professional ice hockey club from Ängelholm that has been playing in the SHL since the 2015–16 season. Rögle has previously played in the SHL (previously named Elitserien) in 1992–1996, 2008–20 ...

and it was heavily rumoured that his departure from the club was imminent. The following day, it was announced that Klingberg had signed a contract with Finnish

club

for the remainder of the 2024-25 season plus a club option for the next season.

International play

Klingberg was selected to play for Team Sweden at the

2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and also known as PyeongChang 2018 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Ko ...

. He competed in one game and Sweden finished in 5th place.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Klingberg, Carl 1991 births Living people Atlanta Thrashers draft picks Atlanta Thrashers players Borås HC players Chicago Wolves players Swedish expatriate ice hockey players in Russia Frölunda HC players Hartford Wolf Pack players Ice hockey players at the 2018 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 2022 Winter Olympics Olympic ice hockey players for Sweden Swedish ice hockey right wingers Ice hockey people from Gothenburg St. John's IceCaps players Timrå IK players Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod players Winnipeg Jets players EV Zug players