Jonatan Berggren – Skellefteå AIK J20 ( SuperElit) / Skellefteå AIK (SHL)

Date of Birth -Jul 16, 2000

Age – 17

Place of Birth – Uppsala, SWE

Nation – Sweden

Youth Team – Enköpings SK

Position – C/RW

Height – 5’10” / 178 cm

Weight – 181 lbs / 82 kg

Shoots – L

Rankings

#27 by HOCKEYPROSPECT.COM

#44 by FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS

#30 by ISS HOCKEY

#28 by MCKEEN’S HOCKEY

#30 by NHL CENTRAL SCOUTING (EU Skaters)

#38 by TSN/McKenzie

Jonatan Berggren is a very interesting prospect and one who several feel could be one of the underrated “steals” of the draft. He is a good skater with a very good feel for the game but it is his playmaking that will get him to the NHL. He has displays excellent vision on the ice and an almost uncanny ability to get the puck right where it needs to go. He has soft hands and quick wrists that allow him to receive the puck and get it off his stick very quickly. To go along with his hands he uses his edges well, affording him to move and change direction quickly and open up the space needed to make plays.

The one area I think he will need to work on as he develops is in improving the efficiency of his movements. He has a bit of a water bug style to his game, which suits him now but I think if he can work on learning how to slow things down and conserving his energy into those quick bursts his vision, hands and skating skills could allow him to develop into a very good playmaking forward in the NHL for a long time.

Bill Placzek profile on Jonatan Berggren:

Undersized winger-center with quickness, hands, and an penchant for generating offense. The best player on the Swedish team in the recent World Under-18s, he creates lots of scoring looks shift after shift. A really good stickhandler with excellent lateral agility at high speed. He is a heavy traffic player who can turn a defender inside out, go wide and then cut in or simply keep backing him up. Gets separation with his carries and is willing to finish checks, or take a hit to make a play. Very fast when he gains possession in the corner on the attack. Displays a strong snap shot, and fast hands when setting up his linemates.

Depending on what the Red Wings do at #6 and obviously how the draft board plays out, Berggren is exactly the type of playmaking forward the Red Wings can use to compliment a guy like Michael Rasmussen down the road and is very likely to be in play at #30, if he makes it that far.

Would Jonatan Berggren be a good choice for the Wings at 30th overall if available?