On Friday, the Red Wings opened up a roster spot when they traded Klim Kostin to San Jose. On Saturday, they filled that spot, announcing that they’ve recalled winger Jonatan Berggren from AHL Grand Rapids.
The 23-year-old spent most of last season with Detroit, getting into 67 games where he had 15 goals and 13 assists, not a bad rookie campaign by any stretch. However, GM Steve Yzerman was active over the course of the summer bringing in several new forwards who ultimately pushed Berggren into more of a depth role. The in-season signing of Patrick Kane bumped him down a bit more on the depth chart.
As a result, Berggren has spent most of this season in the minors with the Griffins, allowing him to play big minutes instead of being in and out of the lineup in a bottom-six role with the big club. The decision certainly made sense from a development perspective and it has worked out well as Berggren leads Grand Rapids in scoring with 19 goals and 27 points in 43 games. For perspective, no one else on the Griffins has reached the 30-point mark yet. He does have nine appearances with the Red Wings as well, collecting two goals and three helpers despite averaging barely over 10 minutes a night.
With Dylan Larkin out due to a lower-body injury, Detroit was down to just 11 healthy forwards following the Kostin trade. Accordingly, the Red Wings should be able to classify Berggren’s promotion as an emergency one, meaning it wouldn’t count against their cap of four post-deadline regular recalls.
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