Flyers prospect Jack Berglund to play for Sweden at the upcoming World Championships
Berglund, 20, who captained Sweden to gold at this year's World Juniors, will get a chance to test himself against some top NHL competition this month in Switzerland.
Jack Berglund has certainly racked up the frequent flyer miles this season. He flew from his native Sweden to Philadelphia and back for development camp, made a round-trip at the turn of the year from Sweden to Minnesota for the World Juniors, and last month, the center flew from Sweden to Philadelphia and then took a car ride to Allentown to join up with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms for their stretch run.
So what’s one more trip?
The Flyers prospect was named Monday to Sweden’s roster for the upcoming World Championships, which will be held in Zurich and Fribourg, Switzerland, from May 15-31. Sweden is sending a younger roster to the tournament highlighted by Lucas Raymond, 24, Anton Frondell, 19, and projected 2026 top-10 picks Ivar Stenberg and Viggo Björck, both of whom are 18.
Berglund, 20, will be looking to punctuate what has been a breakout season. In addition to establishing himself as a regular for Färjestad BK of the Swedish Hockey League, Berglund captained Sweden to its first World Juniors title since 2012, and only the second for the country in the last 45 years. He also played five games in the American Hockey League, scoring his first North American professional goal on April 19. Now the 2024 second-round pick will attempt to join the double-gold club with Sweden later this month.
» READ MORE: World Juniors: Grading Jack Berglund, Porter Martone, and the rest of the Flyers prospects
The tournament will also provide a chance for Berglund to test himself — and the Flyers to evaluate him — against top competition like Canada’s Macklin Celebrini, Finland’s Aleksander Barkov, and Team USA’s Matthew Tkachuk, before next year’s NHL training camp. Berglund, who had seven goals and 15 points in 40 games this season for Färjestad BK, and another three assists in seven playoff games, will come to camp looking to play himself onto the opening-night roster. If he doesn’t make the Flyers, he has an option to return to Sweden to play on loan or could elect to stay and play in the AHL.
Whether he is ready for NHL duty or not, the Flyers have made it clear they have high hopes for the 6-foot-4, 217-pound centerman, whom The Inquirer ranked as the organization’s No. 6 prospect in its March rankings.
“Jack Berglund is probably the one who has made the biggest jump for us development-wise,” general manager Danny Brière told The Inquirer in March.
“I thought he was the best player at the World Junior Championship. I know he didn’t get voted as the best player, I think, because there were bigger names that were there, guys that were drafted much higher than him. But when you watched the game, night after night, he was the captain of that team; he was their No. 1 center; he was on the first power play in front of the net; he was the first PK. …
“Again, it’s a 6-foot-[4] center who is going to bring size and grit to our team down the road. So there’s a lot of possibilities, that’s the exciting part.”
As Brière hinted, Berglund had a standout World Juniors, racking up three goals and 10 points in seven games, while leading the tournament with a plus-nine rating. He was named to the event’s all-tournament team and was particularly dominant physically with his puck protection below the goal line.
» READ MORE: Q&A: Danny Brière on Trevor Zegras’ future, Jack Berglund, and more
The biggest question mark when Berglund was drafted was his skating, but it has come along nicely and is not viewed as an issue internally.
“Jack could skate in a straight line. His foot speed and everything had to improve, turning and that. But a lot of it’s strength, a lot of it’s just his body linking up for a big 6-4 guy,” said Flyers assistant GM Brent Flahr, who compared Berglund to former Minnesota Wild captain Mikko Koivu in December. “And as he gets older and stronger, he’s skating more than fine, and it’s something that he’s always going to have to work on, the quickness and agility.”
With upgrading the center ice position one of the organization’s most glaring needs, Berglund, along with Jett Luchanko and Jack Nesbitt, will be worth following over the next year or two. While Berglund is the first Flyers player to be confirmed to be participating at the World Championships, with the team now eliminated from the postseason, we’ll see if any other Flyers are added to their respective nations’ rosters over the next few days.