The perimeter concerns have not been eliminated for me, but he’s gone a long way to show that he can still be effective on a smaller rink. I need to see him in the NHL try to handle the speed and skill of high level defensemen. I still have mild concern about him being able to create anything by getting to high danger areas of the ice. I believe he will help get other people to those areas, but I’m not sure if he himself will be highly effective in those areas. Raymond has always excelled in that area of the game despite the size and strength disparity, and it’s one reason he’s always been considered a much higher level prospect.
But all that being said, Berggren is much more tenacious than Pulkkinen ever was. Teemu was a pushover. Berggren has some good intangible traits going for him. He also plays the game above the NHL average pace, which I think is a massive hurdle for some guys, and he skates at a high level. I’m confident in Berggren’s future being a very high end third line winger, more likely a quality second line wing with the potential to be a fringe first line offensive spark plug. Defense will likely never be his thing, but it’s not Vrana’s thing either. When you’re really good at offense, you can look past some minor flaws.
