The St. Louis Blues have made a successful waiver claim, picking up 25-year-old winger Jonatan Berggren from the Detroit Red Wings.
The St. Louis Blues have claimed winger Jonatan Berggren off waivers from the Detroit Red Wings.
The 25-year-old was placed on waivers by the Red Wings yesterday. He's played 15 games this season for the Red Wings, scoring two goals and six points. Throughout his four-year NHL career, Berggren has scored 31 goals and 64 points in 169 games.
In his AHL career, he's notched 49 goals and 127 points in 130 games.
Standing 5-foot-11, 195 pounds, the Swedish winger has underwhelmed in the early parts of his career, and with the Red Wings improving this season and competing for a playoff spot, they felt there wasn't a role for him on the NHL roster.
Now that the Blues have claimed him, he'll likely receive a longer runway with an increased role and minutes due to the plethora of injuries the Blues are facing. Throughout his career, Berggren has never averaged more than 13:28 of ice time, which came during his rookie season.
There's a belief that the second-round pick (33rd overall) in the 2018 NHL draft has an untapped offensive game. Unfortunately, he has been unable to match his rookie season career highs of 15 goals and 28 points in 67 games.
Berggren signed a one-year, $1.825-million contract in the off-season and will remain a restricted free agent when his contract expires.
This is a very low-risk, high-reward move by the Blues.
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