Flyers Sign Jack Berglund To Entry-Level Deal

The Flyers announced Thursday that they’ve signed center prospect Jack Berglund to his entry-level contract. Financial terms were not disclosed. It’s a three-year pact that will begin next season, but he’s signed on with AHL Lehigh Valley on an amateur tryout to finish the 2025-26 campaign in North America. He had been playing in his native Sweden with Färjestad BK of the Swedish Hockey League.

Anthony Di Marco of Daily Faceoff reported Tuesday that the Flyers were at least trying to get Berglund over to Lehigh Valley for the stretch run. Berglund, who turns 20 tomorrow, still has another year left on his contract with Färjestad. As a non-first-round pick under 24, the NHL’s transfer agreement with Sweden’s leagues stipulated that the Flyers would have to loan Berglund back to Färjestad next season if he didn’t make the team out of camp, unless Färjestad consented to Berglund staying in North America with Lehigh Valley.

The 6’4″, 209-lb pivot is coming off a season he won’t soon forget. Selected 51st overall by Philly in the 2024 draft, the physical, two-way-minded centerman excelled for the Swedes as their captain in what will be his first and only performance at the World Juniors. He posted three goals and seven assists for 10 points in seven games, including a tournament-high +9 rating, as Sweden marched to its first WJC gold medal since 2012.

In league play, Berglund’s offensive output was more measured. In 40 games with Färjestad, serving mostly as a fourth-line piece with some penalty-kill time, he had seven goals and five assists for 12 points with an even rating. That’s to be expected, especially for a player essentially skating in his first full season at the pro level. He split last year between Färjestad’s main club and its under-20 unit.

There’s a lot to like about Berglund’s defensive game, writes Scott Wheeler of The Athletic, who ranks him as the #9 prospect in Philly’s pool. He’s a good forechecker, especially around the perimeter, but it’s likely his subpar skating will limit his utility outside of a bottom-six role. Outside of that, there’s a highly projectable talent in Berglund that the Flyers will now get to see in the North American circuit for the first time as Lehigh Valley fights to stay in the playoff race, trailing Springfield by four points with five regular-season games remaining for the final playoff spot in the Atlantic Division.

Berglund will be up for restricted free agency in 2029. With Philly’s current bottom-six centers, Noah Cates and Sean Couturier, locked up through 2029 and 2030, respectively, there won’t be any rushing Berglund’s development. He may not get a real NHL shot until his second contract, or at least until the end of his entry-level deal, with so many Flyers forwards either signed through the end of the decade or soon-to-be RFAs projectable as long-term top-nine talents.