On Wednesday, the St. Louis Blues reportedly agreed to a one-year, $2 million contract extension with forward Jonatan Berggren, bringing back the Swedish forward who rediscovered his game after being claimed off waivers from the Detroit Red Wings midway through the season.
The signing closes what has been a pivotal chapter in Berggren’s career, one that began with the promise of a high-end prospect and nearly faded before St. Louis stepped in and gave him the opportunity Detroit never quite extended.
Advertisement
The Red Wings selected Berggren 33rd overall in the 2018 NHL Draft, a pick that carried genuine expectations. The Uppsala, Sweden native arrived in North America with the pedigree of a player who could contribute offensively at the NHL level, and he flashed that potential during a promising debut season in 2022-23 that saw him put up nearly 30 points and turn heads as a legitimate top-six option in the making. That momentum, however, never fully carried forward in Detroit.
Berggren spent the bulk of his Red Wings tenure operating in a limited role, averaging somewhere between ten and thirteen minutes of ice time per game, a number that made it difficult for any offensive player to find consistent rhythm and production.
Bookmark The Hockey News Detroit Red Wings team site to stay connected to the latest news, game-day coverage, and player features.
By mid-December, the writing was on the wall as Detroit placed Berggren on waivers, and the Blues immediately jumped at the chance to claim him, recognizing what the organization believed was a player whose situation rather than his talent had been the limiting factor.
Advertisement
The results in St. Louis backed that theory up in a hurry. Given an average of 14:35 of ice time per night, roughly two full minutes more than he had typically seen in Detroit, Berggren responded with 16 points in 36 games with his new club, a pace that would have translated to nearly 37 points over a full 82-game season.
At 25 years old, Berggren is at precisely the age where most skilled European forwards hit their developmental stride, and St. Louis is betting that the second half of this past season was a preview rather than a peak.
The one-year, $2 million deal keeps him affordable while giving him a full training camp, a full season of meaningful minutes and a genuine chance to prove that his time with the Red Wings was a story of circumstance rather than ceiling.
Never miss a story by adding us to your Google News favorites!
Image
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.
