Welcome to Broad Street Hockey’s Summer 2025 Top Under 25! The series is back and with the Philadelphia Flyers focusing so much on the future, it’s more important than ever. Join us as we rank the 25 best players under the age of 25 for the next few weeks.
No. 20: Jack Berglund
2024-25 Primary League/Team: Farjestad BK
2024-25 Statistics: 1 G, 2 A in 17 GP
Age as of 9/15/2025: 19
Acquired Via: 2024 NHL Draft – Round 2, Pick 51
We are on a run of the players that the Philadelphia Flyers acquired to address their size concerns. Following defensemen Carter Amico and Helge Grans in our Top 25 Under 25 ranking is Swedish center Jack Berglund.
When the Flyers originally drafted Berglund back in 2024, a lot of question marks were raised. Yes, they clearly wanted to get a center more than anything and considering he was someone with limited professional hockey experience already under his belt and is listed at 6-foot-4, they thought it would be someone to nab in the second round. The classic second-round pick that has a limited ceiling but a decent floor — but we’ll get there eventually.
How did Berglund’s 2024-25 season go? Is his stock trending up or down from where it was entering the year?
In his first year since being drafted by the Flyers, there were minimal expectations. Yes, maybe Philadelphia coaches figured out something with his skates being too big and that’s why his skating was below grade leading up to the draft — but that possible fix alone shouldn’t make us think that he can just take Sweden by storm.
But, in our minds, if Berglund was able to play more than the eight games he did in the SHL during his draft year, and show some offensive pop, then that is a trend in the right direction. Depending on how much leash you want to give the sizeable center, he sort of did exactly that.
For his SHL experience, Berglund was able to play in a total of 17 games for Farjestad BK (earning one goal and three points), and then was able to improve on his production in the Under-20 league, scoring eight goals and 22 points in 15 games in the J20 Nationell. But the one major thing to consider is how back-and-forth Berglund’s season was.
This is going to look crazy but this was Berglund’s season from the start:
One game in the Champions Hockey League (CHL), one game in the J20 Nationell, three games in the CHL, two games in the J20 Nationell, two games in the SHL, one game in the J20 Nationell, one game in the SHL, one game in the J20 Nationell, one game in the SHL, three games in the J20 Nationell, one game in the CHL, one game in the SHL, one game in the CHL, seven games in the SHL, four games playing for Sweden’s U20 team, one game in the CHL, two games in the SHL, one game in the J20 Nationell, one game in the CHL, one game in the SHL, one game in the J20 Nationell, one game in the CHL, one game in the J20 Nationell, one game in the SHL, one game in the HockeyAllsvenskan, one game in the SHL, one game in the HockeyAllsvenskan, two games for Sweden’s Under-20 team — and then he was injured.
That is just up until December 23. December twenty-third.
While North American hockey does not have the yo-yoing of European hockey and being able to play in intraleague tournaments like the Champions Hockey League makes a game log look tiring, it is still a lot. There is probably not a lot of prospects who played a significant number of games in the SHL, HockeyAllsvenskan, and the J20 Nationell in a season.
But it was at least obvious why they did that. Berglund is physically ready for the SHL, but obviously being just 18 years old holds him back from being able to take advantage of his time there. He then is so large and dominant in the junior league, so they tried him out in the second division HockeyAllsvenskan on loan and did decent, scoring five points in 10 games during BIK Karlskoga’s bid for promotion to the SHL.
Basically, Berglund had people committed to his development and was trying to figure out the best fit for him. It’s tough to say if his stock is better or not — he played very well during the recent World Junior Summer Showcase but given that his last season was like just trying to farm XP in your favorite RPG, he hasn’t truly been tested in the long run.
What are we expecting from Berglund this season? What should we be looking for from him?
And with that, the expectations are a little bit strange. It all depends on the level of insanity we have, but the baseline should be that Berglund sticks in the SHL for the entire year. No going down to the junior level just because he technically can, or going on loan to a HockeyAllsvenskan team; just stick through the top division with the highest competition available to him.
If he is able to do that, then his stock will rise. Farjestad BK isn’t an SHL powerhouse by any means, so Berglund should be able to stay in that lineup and it will be his responsibility to produce enough and be responsible in all three zones, for him to keep his spot. That’s really the expectation — sure, he can score about half a point per game or maybe go on a hot streak a couple times, but just don’t look like you don’t belong in the SHL and that’s a step in the right direction.
How does Berglund fit in the Flyers’ rebuild? Is it likely he’s going to be part of the next good Flyers team?
It’s an interesting fit. Do the Flyers think that Berglund can be an option down the middle in the top six? Most likely not. Are they hoping that he can just turn out to be a draft pick of theirs that sticks in the NHL in some capacity? Maybe a little bit more than that.
It’s clear — along with the selection of Jack Nesbitt — that the Flyers want someone large to be able to play solidifying minutes at the center position when they’re good again. Berglund can be that, but so can Nesbitt. They just want someone to tower over and play tough minutes against a team’s star players and that is pretty understandable.
Berglund should fill a role and if he exceeds that expectation to just be a cheap option down the middle when he comes over with maybe an opportunity to blossom into something more, then that’s fine too.
What do we think Berglund’s ultimate NHL upside is, and how likely is it that he gets to something approaching that?
It is truly hard to get a read on what Berglund’s ultimate upside can be. From just this past year, he is clearly at a level where he’s above junior hockey but hasn’t shown enough in the professional ranks over in Sweden to envision a world where he’s some dominant two-way force that can play with some of the Flyers’ best wingers.
He can maybe get there if the skating improves and he shows more of a scoring touch — but maybe his ultimate upside is to be the counterprogramming to Jett Luchanko in the Flyers’ long-term middle six forward group at center. Luchanko’s speed and tenacity to work his butt off to keep possession, and Berglund will be that steady glacier down the middle and to get to the front of the net with an opportunity to crash and bang. If we want to put a label to that — a distinct marker — it’s a sizeable, physically gifted third-line center that contributes slightly more offensively than defensively? Maybe?
It doesn’t feel anywhere near a guarantee that he reaches there. It feels more likely that he isn’t even good enough to hang at the top of an AHL lineup, than be a reliable offensive contributor in the NHL. There’s a chance, though, and this season will almost certainly tell us how big that chance is.
Previously in Philadelphia Flyers Summer 2025 Top 25 Under 25: