The one Philadelphia Flyers prospect to have boosted his stock the most this year is undoubtedly Jack Berglund, a 2024 second-round pick and suddenly highly promising center.
Berglund, 19, is currently serving as Sweden's captain at the 2026 World Junior Championships, and he's been leading by example every step of the way.
While foot speed is and probably always will be an issue for the hulking 6-foot-3, 210-pound center, Berglund is finding his identity as a player, using his size and strength to crash and bang and dominate in small areas.
With his continued development, the Flyers' 2024 second-round pick has recorded at least one point in five of six World Juniors outings, including a dominant three-assist effort against the United States in a 6-3 win on Dec. 31.
As for his more recent exploits, Berglund and his Sweden just sent fellow Flyers prospects Heikki Ruohonen and Max Westergard packing, assisting one goal in the exhilarating 4-3 shootout win and adding another in the shootout itself to keep his nation afloat in the tournament.
The big guy, wearing the 'C' on his chest, rose to an even bigger occasion, delivering an awesome shootout goal with a celebration to match it.
Through his first six games, Berglund is now up to three goals, five assists, and eight points, and he'll have one last opportunity to do some damage in his last-ever World Juniors game.
With Porter Martone, Jett Luchanko, and Canada losing 6-4 to Czechia in the semifinals, Berglund will be the only Flyers prospect with the opportunity to win the gold medal at the tournament, while Martone and Luchanko will have to go head-to-head with Ruohonen and Westergard for bronze.
Recency bias will, for better or for worse, become cause for some unrealistic expectations, but it is becoming increasingly easy, objectively, to see Berglund becoming a useful middle-six power forward for the Flyers with some intriguing physical and mental tools.
The 19-year-old obviously isn't afraid of big moments, as evidenced by his level of play, comes from an NHL background via father Christian Berglund, is captaining his nation at a young age, and is now becoming increasingly confident in physically imposing himself against his opponents.
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The real litmus test for Berglund will be how he fares in the SHL playing against men in preparation for an NHL push down the road, but he's got a respectable five points in 22 games in his first full season in Sweden's top hockey league.
If things keep going the way they've been for the behemoth forward, we'll be seeing that NHL push to make the Flyers from Berglund sooner rather than later.