Flyers’ 6-foot-4 center prospect has hockey bloodlines and desire to work originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The good thing about Jack Berglund is he has a lot of qualities a team would want in a prospect.
He plays a premium position, he has a 6-foot-4, 210-pound makeup, he takes pride in playing the full length of the rink and there’s offensive upside.
The great thing about Berglund is he knows where he can be better and wants to get better.
The 18-year-old center admitted that skating is his biggest weakness. No teenage prospect is perfect. With Berglund, who was one of the Flyers’ two second-round picks in the 2024 NHL draft, his foot speed isn’t there yet.
“I’m just trying to get better every day with the skating because I have other tools,” he said two weeks ago at Flyers development camp. “If I get that right, I think I can be a great player someday.
“It starts off the ice. You have to grind there off the ice, do the work that you have to do. For me, it’s more quickness and explosiveness that I have to do to get faster out there.”
Berglund was the 14th center taken in last month’s draft and the 51st overall pick. The Flyers had that selection as compensation for not signing 2018 first-rounder Jay O’Brien.
In Berglund, they have a Swedish prospect who likes to watch the Wild’s Joel Eriksson Ek and the Avalanche’s Mikko Rantanen.
“I try to follow those guys and take inspiration,” he said. “I think they’re both really smart players, work hard every day, real role models that are [making] a difference out there.”
Berglund has his father to lean on, as well. Christian Berglund played for the Devils and Panthers in the early 2000s.
His first career NHL goal came against John Tortorella’s 2001-02 Lightning team. Five days prior, his second of 86 career NHL games came against the Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center (then the First Union Center). John LeClair, a Flyers alternate captain then, was on the ice earlier this month working with the young Berglund at development camp.
“He’s super supportive,” Berglund said of his dad. “I’m happy to have him by my side.”
Heading into the draft, Berglund was the 28th-ranked European skater by NHL Central Scouting, jumping 10 spots from his midterm mark. Overall, he was ranked as high as 55th by TSN’s Craig Button and as low as 131st by EliteProspects.com.
Berglund had 34 points (15 goals, 19 assists) over 41 games last season for Farjestad BK in Sweden’s top junior league. He got a taste of the SHL, Sweden’s top pro league, scoring a goal over eight games.
He also competed for Team Sweden at the 2024 IIHF U-18 World Junior Championship, putting up five points (two goals, three assists) in seven games to help his country take home bronze medals.
“I just tried to work hard in the offseason before the season,” Berglund said. “I got great opportunities from my coaches and my club at home in Sweden, got to play a lot and play in the SHL, as well, got to play for the national team. It was just super fun to get those experiences and opportunities, tried to take care of that and make the best of that.”
The Flyers have badly needed more centers matriculating through their system. They used three of their first four picks on centers last month in Las Vegas. There has been a focus on draft picks and development in the team’s rebuild under general manager Danny Briere and president of hockey operations Keith Jones.
“That’s been the messaging from up top since Danny and Jonesy took over, they’re looking for young players,” Flyers assistant director of player development Nick Schultz said two weeks ago. “We have to draft well and we have to develop, that’s big for our team. I think our scouts have done a great job drafting well the last few years and us for developing.”
Berglund knows a critical part of his development will come down to his skating.
“It’s up to me, really, how good I want to be,” he said. “I’m just trying to put in the work.”
Subscribe anywhere you get your podcasts:
Apple Podcasts | Youtube Music | Spotify | Stitcher | Art19 | RSS | Watch on YouTube
