“Carl Klingberg is an experienced, large and successful team player,” said Ilves sports director Timo Koskela. “His playing style has always been based on a strong two-way game and a goal-scoring game, as well as a heavy workload and physical game. It’s wonderful to have him very motivated to play for Ilves.”

Klingberg was a second-round pick by the Atlanta Thrashers in 2009 but played only one game for the team before the franchise moved to Winnipeg in 2011. Klingberg then played 11 NHL games for the Jets over the next few seasons, spending most of his time in the AHL.

Klingberg spent the 2015-16 season with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod of the KHL and then played in Switzerland for EV Zug from 2016 to 2023.

A native of Gothenburg, Sweden, Klingberg signed with hometown Frölunda HC to much fanfare but Klingberg did not produce as hoped. Last season, the 6-foot-3, 225-pound winger had 17 points and 45 penalty minutes in 66 SHL regular-season and playoff games. This season has seen his production slip even further, with only two goals through 17 games.

When he was a healthy scratch for Saturday’s game against Rögle BK, the writing was on the wall that his days with Frölunda were done. Several teams in Finland were rumored to be his next destination – in addition to Ilves, Tampere rival Tappara, IFK Helsinki and Jukurit Mikkeli were mentioned by various Swedish and Finnish media sources.

Ilves currently ranks eighth in the 16-team Liiga with 38 points in 21 games. The club has also recently added former NHL prospects Lukas Svejkovsky and Simon Johansson to its roster.