Red Wings forward Jonatan Berggren and the power of confidence

I am sure Jonatan Berggren wants to thank Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman for the recent coaching change in Motown. Although he won't say it directly, his recent play says it all.

Berggren, 24, comes off a bit quirky, yet timid, but the Swedish-born winger is starting to find his way at the NHL level, particularly since the dismissal of head coach Derek Lalonde. One of the first things newly appointed head coach Todd McLellan told Berggren was to 'let it loose.' McLellan, in a roundabout way, told the young winger to focus on the offensive side of his game and not worry about making a mistake. This is quite the change of pace from Lalonde's method of focusing on being a much better defensive winger and creating offense when the opportunity permits.

“We had a meeting; he told me like let it loose, kind of like he wanted me to play offense and like he knows that I have skills in offensive game,” Berggren said. “It was a nice confidence boost for me to have the coach trust to maybe (make) a mistake, but it’s not the whole world. It was kind of nice to have that meeting with him.

“Every new coach has their own look how the game will play, and (I’m) feeling like Todd and I have kind of the same mindset about the game, how we want to play. So, right now, it’s feeling really, really good.”

As a rookie, Berggren recorded 15 goals and 28 points over 67 games back in 2022-23. Although there were signs of Berggren growing into a potential top-six scoring winger, he had plenty of flaws, as every young first-year player. Berggren was a defensive liability at 22, and watching with a keen eye, he'd lose far more of those 50/50 puck battles than he'd win along the wall or at the end boards in either zone. Again, you can live with that, understanding it's a rookie winger trying to find his way. Just when you thought there would be breakout potential in year two, Berggren was sent back to Grand Rapids after the Red Wings added a plethora of veteran depth forwards in the off-season. Berggren remained exempt from waivers and became the easy button concerning roster management. It appeared as though Berggren might become trade bait or the prospect added to a potential blockbuster-type deal to sweeten the pot.

The creative winger appeared in a dozen games with the Red Wings last season, recording two goals and six points. This season, Berggren was no longer exempt from waivers, so Yzerman needed to make a decision during the summer: trade him, play him, or risk losing him for nothing on waivers. Yzerman elected to clear some roster space but did not bring back pending free agent winger Daniel Sprong and traded Robby Fabbri to Anaheim, which also served as salary relief plus allowed Berggren a regular role.

Jonatan Berggren's confidence is growing, and he is restoring his overall potential with the Detroit Red Wings.

This season, Berggren appeared to win his share of those same puck battles he'd previously lost but was clearly playing conservatively and, instead of pushing for offense, was trying to make sure he was in the proper position to defend. One of McLellan's first initiatives upon joining the Detroit Red Wings was to unlock Berggren's offensive abilities. First, he needed to instill the confidence a young player, hell, any player needs before they can flourish.

“You hear from people when you come in about individuals and what their skill sets are and what tools they bring to the game, and Bergie was described to me as an individual who had some offense and made plays in Grand Rapids and the NHL in the past,” McLellan said. “I think when a new coach comes in and you’re a younger player, you’re afraid to make mistakes. You just want to play a safe game and not be talked about. Sometimes, you’re talked about because you play that way. We saw last night he does have some pretty good offensive instincts and talent, and we want that to come out with a smart game all over the rink though.”

McLellan added, “I should probably clarify: playing free and playing dumb are two different things. Freedom to make plays when the plays are there, not freedom just to hope pucks to the middle and turn them over, and then let’s back-check. That’s not free, and that won’t work. But if you see a play and you’re trying to make it and it doesn’t work out, we have to live with a little bit of that. We have to have some offense. But if you’re just careless, you’re reckless, just turnover after turnover, that’s not going to work really well.”

Berggren recently rewarded his new coach with a pair of breakaway goals in back-to-back games. The first came on New Year's Eve after the Red Wings were playing a man short during even-strength play when Berggren missed his line change. The young winger jumped over the boards onto the ice after some hollering occurred from the four Red Wings pinned in their own zone defending five Penguins. It was Vladimir Tarasenko with a heads-up pass to spring Berggren, who made no mistake, beating former Red Wings netminder Alex Nedeljkovic in the top corner. I pictured McLellan greeting Berggren after the goal with a similar line as Lou Brown, played by James Richard Gammon, in the movie Major League when his centerfielder Willie Mays Hayes makes a basket and showboat catch in the outfield. "Nice catch, Hayes, don't even (expletive) do it again.

Berggren struck again on Thursday night in Columbus right out of the box in the final minute of the third period of a tie-game after McLellan challenged for goaltender interference. The goal stood, and the Red Wings were assessed a minor penalty for delay of the game. The sequence leading up to the goal was the ultimate team effort, something we failed to see in the latter days of the Lalonde era. Ben Chiarot laid out and blocked a slap shot near the hash marks, and Tyler Motte tracked the ricochet and dove toward the loose puck poking it out to center ice, where Berggren collected it right out of the box and sniped the game-winner.

It's amazing what confidence can do. Over the first 33 games this season, Berggren scored four goals and totaled seven points while averaging 12:29 on ice per game. Since the coaching change, Berggren has scored two goals and tallied three points over four games while averaging just shy of 15 minutes per game. Although it is a small sample size, it's clear Berggren is more comfortable with his new bench boss, and if this trend continues, the Detroit Red Wings will greatly benefit from his scoring touch over the second half of this season and beyond.