On Monday, the Flyers loaned 20-year-old center Jack Berglund to Färjestad BK Karlstad of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) for the duration of their 2026-27 season. When their season is over, he’s eligible to join the Lehigh Valley Phantoms or the Flyers immediately thereafter.
On April 9, 2026, the Flyers signed Berglund to an entry-level NHL contract (three years). It was uncertain as to whether he’d report to the Flyers/Phantoms or spend one additional full season in Sweden. Last season, he joined the Phantoms for the final five games of the year.
In 2025-26, Berglund dressed in 40 regular season games plus seven playoff matches for FBK’s parent squad in the SHL. He mostly played on the third or fourth line, as young players in Europe tend to do. However, he played a key role for Team Sweden’s gold medalist World Junior Championship team (three goals, 10 points in seven games). Subsequently, Berglund played in the senior IIHF World Championship tourney. He had two points (1g, 1a) in four games, and saw power play time.
As things stand, 2024 second-round pick Berglund and 2025 first-rounder Jack Nesbitt will compete for organizational depth chart slotting over the next couple years. Nesbitt will play the 2026-27 season in the NCAA for the University of Michigan, while Berglund is in the SHL.
The Flyers are high on both players’ upsides as two-way forwards. Both have had some work to do on their skating, which they’ve each focused on since their respective Draft years. Nesbitt has a little more filling out to do. Offensively, Nesbitt has a little further to go developmentally than Berglund but is also a year younger.
Ultimately, both players have middle-six/ top nine potential. The question is whether either hits the upper end of middle-six (AKA second-line caliber) status as a pro. In the meantime, 2024 first-round pick Jett Luchanko has a bit less competition on the presumed Phantoms depth chart for the start of the 2026-27 season. Luchanko, who turns 20 on August 21, will enter his first full season in the professional ranks. He is coming off core muscle surgery after playing through a nagging injury for roughly 18 months.
The Flyers’ first-preference was for Berglund to attend Rookie Camp and the main camps for the NHL team and their American Hockey League affiliate. The decision on Berglund’s 2026-27 destination — AHL or SHL — was based upon the player’s own preference. He feels he has unfinished business with Färjestad for one more year; both in terms of greater ice time in key situations and in pushing for a deeper playoff run. The Flyers knew all along before the ELC signing that Berglund might choose one final season at home.
The decision lingered into the offseason. With the Swedish season drawing close -- it begins and ends sooner than the AHL and NHL seasons -- Berglund asked for the loan. He will report to Allentown for whatever time is left in the 2026-27 campaign once FBK is done with its own season.
In the immediate term, the SHL loan removes Berglund as a main player to watch from the upcoming Rookie Series in Allentown. The same goes for Nesbitt, because of his commitment to collegiate hockey for the 2026-27 season. By NCAA rules, Nesbitt is ineligible to attend an NHL camp that overlaps with the academic calendar. The same thing applied last September to Porter Martone, who is now in the NHL with the Flyers.
Long term, one extra SHL season in unlikely to hurt Berglund’s development. Contractually, it does burn the first year of the player's entry-level contract. At age 20, by rule of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, a contracted player is no longer eligible for the "Slide Rule", whether he's in the AHL or playing overseas.
