The Hockey News’s Sam Stockton took a “deep dive” into an examination of what Jonatan Berggren’s role on the rebuilt and renovated Red Wings’ roster will look like this upcoming season:
After a busy off-season, it will be more difficult just to crack the Red Wings line-up for Berggren than it was a year ago, much less move up it. To be absolutely clear, this doesn’t mean I expect Berggren to start the season in the press box as a healthy scratch or with the Griffins in the AHL—just that his competition has only increased relative to his rookie year.
The off-season’s marquee acquisition—Alex DeBrincat—will almost certainly slot into a top line role. As I discussed last weekend, that leaves the Red Wings with a decision to make regarding who will play beside DeBrincat and Larkin: a third scoring threat like Lucas Raymond or a forechecker/battle winner like Michael Rasmussen.
If the Wings don’t opt for an all-offense approach there, that would drop Raymond (or, if Derek Lalonde and company decide for a change of pace, DeBrincat) to the second line. At that point, the same question—should the line be filled out with another scoring winger or a more rugged and workmanlike one—pushes down to the second line as well.
I point this out to note that Berggren probably isn’t looking at a top six role in the immediate future, and he will have to continue to ply his craft in a depth role to start his second season in the NHL.
Still, Detroit’s improved depth should only make life easier for an offensively minded player in the Red Wings’ bottom six this season as compared to last. With no disrespect intended to Czarnik, the Red Wings’ new bottom six options (namely Daniel Sprong, Klim Kostin, and Christian Fischer) should provide a significant upgrade. As such, Berggren could reasonably be in line for a nice boost to his point total, even without much of an uptick in role and ice time.
Continued; as Sam says, Berggren will obviously be hard-pressed to crack the “top six” initially, but he should be able to maximize his ice time thanks to an improved supporting cast, and there’s no doubt that he’s still a big part of the Red Wings’ future.
