If the Red Wings buy, Jonatan Berggren is a player they need to sell
Buying at the trade deadline is synonymous with the Detroit Red Wings, perhaps more than any other NHL team, but one way to entice a ‘seller’ into making a blockbuster move would involve adding a prospect like Jonatan Berggren to the mix. Younger teams in complete rebuilding mode would be the best fits for Berggren, and the 33rd-overall pick in 2018 would also come with NHL experience.
No, he hasn’t fared the way we all expected him to in Detroit, but it also doesn’t mean that a ‘seller’ should be deterred from trying to add the 23-year-old to a potential trade package. He may have scored just 28 points in 67 games last season and lasted just nine games in Detroit this year, but they also need to consider how well he has played at the AHL and international levels.
In 2022-23, he put up 11 points and two goals in 12 contests for Team Sweden in international play, and he’s since followed up that epic production with 42 points and 17 goals with the Grand Rapids Griffins. This has put him on pace to snag 66 points and 27 goals in 63 games if he stays healthy, so it’s clear Berggren has all the tools to produce at professional hockey’s highest level.