St. Louis Blues
· 2026-07-02
The St. Louis Blues signed Jonatan Berggren to a one-year, $2 million contract extension, bringing back the Swedish forward who rediscovered his game with the Blues.
Berggren was claimed off waivers from the Detroit Red Wings midway through the season and responded with 16 points in 36 games with the Blues.
The Blues immediately jumped at the chance to claim Berggren, recognizing a player whose situation rather than talent had been the limiting factor.
At 25 years old, Berggren is at precisely the age where most skilled European forwards hit their developmental stride, and the Blues are betting that the second half of this past season was a preview rather than a peak.
The one-year deal keeps him affordable while giving him a full training camp and a genuine chance to prove that his time with the Red Wings was a story of circumstance rather than ceiling.
And the Blues are currently on a W4 streak, standing 9th in the Western Conference with a 37-33 record, after winning 3-5 @ Utah Mammoth on 2026-04-16.
Berggren will have a full season of meaningful minutes to prove himself, and the Blues will be looking to build on their current streak.
The signing closes what has been a pivotal chapter in Berggren's career, one that began with the promise of a high-end prospect and nearly faded before the Blues stepped in.
The Red Wings selected Berggren 33rd overall in the 2018 NHL Draft, a pick that carried genuine expectations.
Berggren spent the bulk of his Red Wings tenure operating in a limited role, averaging somewhere between ten and thirteen minutes of ice time per game.
But the Blues gave him an average of 14:35 of ice time per night, roughly two full minutes more than he had typically seen in Detroit.
The results in St. Louis backed up the theory that Berggren's situation rather than his talent had been the limiting factor.