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Meet the Edmonton Oilers’ newest prospect, Carl Berglund

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Bruce Curlock
11 months ago
Early yesterday, the Edmonton Oilers broke some prospect news signing collegiate free agent Carl Berglund from the UMass-Lowell River Hawks. Our man, Zach Laing had all the details when the news broke here.
Now I have to admit I had only heard Berglund a few times, which is a tad embarrassing since he plays in the Hockey East Conference: the same conference that has Oilers draft picks, Luca Munzenberger and Joel Maatta in it and who have played Berglund twice this year. To make matters worse, Mr. Berglund and his fellow River Hawks played against Carter Savoie’s Denver Pioneers last year in the NCAA regional semis. At this point, I have to paraphrase the great goalie philosopher, Denis Lemieux, and admit that I feel shame. You older folks down front will get that joke.
However, I am determined to right this wrong and “go free” by digging into Berglund and what the Oilers have in the big Swede. However, before I do so, I must share a tweet I sent yesterday on collegiate free agents.
Most entry-level collegiate free-agent signings are lottery tickets. You have the occasional success stories like Drake Caggiula or Torey Krug, but most simply do not pan out. That being said, when you are an NHL team that doesn’t have a lot of draft picks, it can be a way to fill the prospect pool with players that might be closer to the NHL at least physically. So the Edmonton Oilers bought a ticket yesterday.

Who Is Carl Berglund?

This clip below is probably the best example of Carl Berglund’s game. He is not flashy, but he is strong physically with a good skating stride and he plays all 200 feet each shift.

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In terms of specific skills, let’s start with Berglund’s skating. Here is a good clip to see what it is all about. His posture is excellent. His feet are well-spaced and his knees are over his toes. He also has an excellent bend at the waist while keeping the chest upright.  The skates are a little high off the ice, which may cause a loss of power, but the stride is very long with a quick return, so I think it probably balances out. In sum, it is a very solid stride that will serve him well at the next level.

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Where you would like to see some improvement is the first couple of strides. While powerful, it is not quick. So that will get him caught a lot at the next level. Here is a clip from the NCAA semis last March against Denver. Watch Carter Savoie win the loose puck and take off up the ice. Berglund, who has the advantage of no puck, does not gain any ground on Savoie. There is a little bit of angling with Berglund here, but it is pretty clear he was not going to close distance. The worry here is that Savoie is really only an above-average skater at the AHL level. So Berglund will need to work on this element for certain.

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In terms of his pucks skills, he really doesn’t display a shot that would threaten a goalie from distance. In watching each of his goals, they are, for the most part, rebounds or deflections down on top of the goalie. The concern here is that if he cannot threaten a goalie from distance, he will not get a lot of respect from defenders who will then give him space to shoot and try to deny the pass. This will limit his pass options.
This leads to the other area that will need some focus. Puck skills. His game is a very simple one that is north-south and his puck skills are very similar. Here are a couple of clips illustrating this point.

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Again, his pucks skills aren’t poor by any stretch, but they are methodical and don’t have a great degree of dynamic movement. I do think this is an area where he can improve with a skills coach. I would also suggest that improvements here would lead to some very positive results offensively because he is such a strong skater and because he is physically a big man.
Before I close, I’ll leave you with one other thought on Berglund and expectations for him early in his professional career. Berglund played last year with Andre Lee, who is a 7th-round draft pick of the LA Kings. Berglund is five months older than Lee and each was playing their junior season with UMass-Lowell. Berglund finished the year 9-19—28 in 33 games. Lee tallied 16-12—28 in 34 games. Lee decided to sign with the Kings and has played with the Ontario Reign in the AHL this year. In 47 games, he has five goals and two assists for seven points.
The point of this paragraph is not to critique the signing, but to provide a reminder to all of us, that prospect development takes time and patience. For Berglund, his path starts next week with the Bakersfield Condors.

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