Berggren Looking at Home With Red Wings

A lot has changed with the Detroit Red Wings since Todd McLellan replaced Derek Lalonde as coach shortly after Christmas.

Take forward Jonatan Berggren, for instance.

Under Lalonde, it was seemed as though Berggren had one skate in Detroit and the other with the AHL Grand Rapids Griffins. It was evident that he didn’t have the confidence of his coach invested in his game.

“I feel like maybe I was thinking a little bit too much about don’t make mistakes in the beginning,” Berggren said.

Lalonde’s emphasis – some might say overemphasis – on Berggren’s play without the puck certainly was stifling his creative instincts.

“It was a lot of focus on my defensive game and I feel like in that aspect that I’ve grown a lot this season,” Berggren acknowledged. “But then maybe you think a little bit too much that like ‘oh, I don’t want to kind of mess this up,’ but mistakes will happen.

“That’s what you grow and learn from. The most important thing is you play your game and have trust in you and have confidence that I can be an offensive player.”

OUT OF THE BOX AND ONTO THE BOARD! 🐙

Jonatan Berggren scores the game-winning goal with 36 seconds remaining! pic.twitter.com/6YdhNKpFSg

— NHL (@NHL) January 3, 2025

From the day McLellan took up residence in the Detroit coach’s office, it was apparent that there was going to be a seismic shift in the way Berggren was both deployed and appreciated.

“Yeah, we had a meeting that he told me like let it loose, kind of like he wanted me to play offense,” Berggren said. “He knows that I had my skills is in offensive game. So it was nice confidence boost for me to have the coach trust to maybe do a mistake.

“Then of course it’s not like toe drags on the blue but like be an offensive player and have the confidence to do it, too.”

Red Wings McLellan Giving Berggren Opportunity To Shine

McLellan’s approach is to let Berggren be Berggren. Allow him to utilize the skills that originally made him an NHL prospect. Stop thinking. Let your instincts guide your path.

A coach who knows what Berggren is capable of is Swedish national team boss Sam Hallam. He’s coached Berggren in the IIHF World Championship.

Hallam shares McLellan’s thought process when it comes to Berggren’s game.

“He plays with a lot of instincts,” Hallam said. “I think that you have to have him in a role where he’s allowed to make plays.”

McLellan is definitely giving Berggen more chance to be that kind of player, and it’s paying dividends. In 21 games since the coaching change, Berggren shows 5-5-10 totals. That’s seventh on the club over that span.

In 32 games under Lalonde, Berggren’s account was showing 4-3-7 digits. He was 11th in team scoring.

McLellan has also given a significant increase to Berggren’s ice time. He was averaging 12:30 per game under Lalonde and getting 15.8 shifts per game.

COACHES: One of the best skills you can work with your players is understanding where the pressure is coming from when they have the puck. This is an incredible clip demonstrating that skill.

Check out DET's Jonatan Berggren when he gets the puck in the corner. He could feel the… pic.twitter.com/BolkjF1UTh

— Topher Scott (@HockeyThinkTank) February 5, 2025

McLellan is playing Berggren 18.4 shifts per night, and 13:59 in average ice time.

“I’m feeling like Todd and I have a kind of the same mindset about the game, how we want to play,” Berggren said.

The coach insists it’s simply been a matter of Berggren earning more opportunity.

“(Berggren) has done a lot of really good things to increase our confidence level in him,” McLellan said. “He’s done a good job to this point of gaining it, within our eyes.”