EP Rinkside’ Victor Nuno examines Jonatan Berggren’s fantasy hockey upside today, and I can’t share the entire article, but Nuno does a superb job of chronicling Berggren’s development (and he may have asked me for my opinion of Berggren as well):
Jonatan Berggren has been knocking on the door of a full-time NHL job now for years. Though he has scored well in leagues outside of the NHL, questions remain about how well that production can translate. Can he be a full-time NHLer? If so, just how high is his offencive upside? We will dig into those questions and more in this edition of the X-gamers.
Berggren was drafted 33rd overall in the 2018 NHL draft by the Detroit Red Wings. He had a superb 57 points in 38 games in the J20 SuperElit. He even appeared in 10 SHL games for Skelleftea AIK. The following two seasons, he was hampered by injury and had the season cut short due to COVID so he played only 30 SHL games total, scoring 15 points.
In 2020-21, he once again exhibited his scoring prowess again by putting up 45 points in 49 SHL games for Skelleftea AIK. The excitement for his potential had returned and it was bolstered when in 2021-2, he scored 64 points in 70 games for AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins. This led to a role with the Detroit Red Wings in 2021-22.
In his first taste of NHL action, Berggren was able to score 28 points in 67 games. He only skated 13:28 total time on ice with 1:30 on average on the power play. His linemates shifted often, including Austin Czarnik, Joe Veleno, David Perron, and Filip Zadina. No combination was together for more than 11% of his even strength minutes. It’s hard to have consistent production without consistent linemates.
Even though he scored nearly a half-point-per-game in his first NHL season, Berggren had one of the worst expected goals differentials on the team. His Corsi against per 60 minutes was the fifth worst, just ahead of Patrick Kane. It’s clear he needed to spend some more time in the AHL rounding out his game.
In 2023-24, he spent most of the season in the AHL, scoring 56 points in 53 games. He was able to drive play with a 54% Corsi, but what’s more is that he was the best defencive forward by Corsi against on the team. This is exactly the type of defencive improvement he needs to get a regular NHL role.
Continued (paywall)
