The Philadelphia Flyers selected 18-year-old center Jack Berglund with their second round pick (51st overall) Saturday during the NHL Draft in Las Vegas. The Karlstad, Sweden native has the size and strength down the middle which could help the Flyers down the road.
Although his ranking was varied with TSN’s Bob McKenzie having him 64th, TSN’s Craig Button having him 55th and EliteProspects ranking him 131st, Berglund (6-foot-3, 209 lbs) had a productive season with Färjestad BK J20 in Sweden, scoring 15 goals and adding 19 assists for 34 points in 41 games. As part of Sweden’s team in the U18 tournament he scored eight goals and had seven assists for 15 points.
“With the puck, Berglund is inside-driven, decisive and patient in equal measures, able to move the puck with pace or wait patiently as plays develop before making his decision,” EliteProspects wrote of Berglund. “He can spin off checks along the wall, work the give-and-go game to gain the inside, and cut through traffic to get quality looks.”
“Berglund has great puck skills and soft hands to make moves in tight spaces,” Peter Baracchini wrote of the forward. “He’s always utilizing his size to his advantage to shield the puck and using that strong drive to get to the middle of the ice. As a result of his puck protection skills, it’s extremely difficult to knock the puck off him as he’s always in control. He can make plays with his deceptive playmaking or finish them off with his goal scoring abilities. He doesn’t excel in one main area and his offensive upside may not be up there compared to others, but he’s effective in all facets of the game.”
Another aspect to his game is that he appears to be as strong in his own end as he is in the offensive zone, not afraid to make the simple play, take the hit or do the hard work needed to ensure the puck heads out of the defensive zone.
The pick was a compensatory pick the NHL gave the Flyers after the team didn’t sign their 2018 first-round draft pick Jay O’Brien. O’Brien was selected nineteenth overall in the 2018 NHL draft and played three seasons with Boston University from 2020-21 to 2022-23.
It’s also clear with this pick that the Flyers are trying to prioritize their dearth of talent down the middle after selecting Jett Luchanko Friday night in the first round and now Berglund with their second round selection. They get the speed of Luchanko and top-line potential, and then solid depth with their second choice this year, with the potential of Jack Berglund.
