The Philadelphia Flyers will have one less prospect playing in this year’s World Juniors tournament. It was announced on Tuesday that Team Sweden center Jack Berglund will be out for the World Juniors due to an injury.
Per a translated interview with Swedish outlet Värmlands Folkblad, Berglund “feels empty” as the World Juniors tournament “was something I had been looking forward to.” In that interview, it was revealed that Berglund suffered a double fracture in his hand after being hit with a puck in an awkward spot.
Berglund was selected by the Flyers with the 51st pick in this year’s NHL draft. He’s struggled a bit in the SHL with just three points (one goal, two assists) in 17 games in Sweden’s top league. However, he has put up 15 points (eight goals, seven assists) in 11 games for Färjestad BK’s J20 team. Given the nature of Berglund’s injury, he could end up missing a significant amount of time in the second half of the season for his SHL and J20 teams.
The 18-year-old center was expected to be a valuable depth forward for Sweden. Standing at 6’4″ and 209 lbs, Berglund has the size that could’ve made it difficult for some of the smaller players at the World Juniors. Since he is only 18, Berglund should be penciled in as one of Team Sweden’s centers for next year’s World Juniors tournament.
The Flyers will now have just four prospects to watch in this year’s World Juniors tournament. Top forward prospect Jett Luchanko, defenseman Oliver Bonk, and goaltender Carson Bjarnson are all playing for Team Canada while 2023 fourth-round pick Heikki Ruohonen is one of 15 forwards on Team Finland’s squad.
The World Juniors tournament gets underway on Thursday, December 26th with four games throughout the day up in Ottawa.
