The Philadelphia Flyers have a bounty of wingers who are on the smaller side, but overcome their lack of physical height in the way that they approach the game with some aggressive forechecking and the ability to move around the ice well enough. So, how about another one? Max Westerg\u00e5rd comes in at No. 24 of our 2026 Top 25 Under 25 ranking after an impressive first season as a Flyers prospect.<\/p>\n
No. 24: Max Westerg\u00e5rd<\/p>\n
2025-26 Primary League\/Team:\u00a0Frolunda HC U20 (U20 Nationell)
2025-26 Statistics:\u00a09 G, 21 A, 30 Pts
Age as of 9\/15\/2026:\u00a019
Acquired Via:\u00a02025 NHL Draft \u2013 Round 5, Pick 132<\/p>\n
How did Westerg\u00e5rd\u2019s 2025-26 season go?<\/p>\n
It might be a little too much to call Westerg\u00e5rd\u2019s 2025-26 season a \u201cbreakout season\u201d but it\u2019s hard not to. He went from a player who was drafted in the fifth round just months before his campaign actually got started, to someone who has rightfully solidified himself as a very good NHL prospect. Only the truest of draft freaks knew his name before the Flyers selected him last June, and now we think he rocks.<\/p>\n
As part of the legendary Frolunda program, Westerg\u00e5rd had a year where he bounced around from league to league a little too often than anyone would like, but it\u2019s clear that they care about his development.<\/p>\n
For the first handful of months, Westerg\u00e5rd would go back and forth between the U20 Nationell junior league for Frolunda and the SHL roster. One game here, a two-game weekend there, and then back to playing with his teenaged peers, and then a game in the SHL or the Champions Hockey League, and then back to juniors.<\/p>\n
Westerg\u00e5rd regularly showed that he was too good for juniors \u2014 he did show that by scoring 30 points in 20 games \u2014 but he then got under 10 minutes of ice-time in the SHL, which didn\u2019t really help. It wasn\u2019t until the World Juniors where he really got to show off.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re not regularly watching SHL or U20 Nationell games, so this was one of our first experiences watching full games of Westerg\u00e5rd and he certainly impressed. He finished the tournament with four points in seven games, so not lighting the world on fire, but he would regularly put defenders on their heels with some insane forechecking work and just show how he can impact the game on and off the puck.<\/p>\n
After that, Frolunda tried to not have him waste his talents in the junior league. He was loaned to HockeyAllsvenskan\u2019s Bjorkloven (the second tier in Swedish pro hockey) to get more opportunity. That lasted five games (where he played over 12 minutes in three of them) and aside from a couple SHL games where he barely played, he was back in juniors full time.<\/p>\n
It was in the U20 Nationell playoffs where he really popped off, with 23 points in 15 games and a trip to the final round against Vaxjo. Westerg\u00e5rd and Frolunda unfortunately lost, but he at least got to show off.<\/p>\n
Westerg\u00e5rd\u2019s stock has clearly risen compared to where we were a year ago, since we didn\u2019t know what to expect. But after this season, it also leaves him in a weird space between leagues, since he scored a bunch in juniors and then didn\u2019t score a single point in the 23 games of pro hockey he got to (barely) play in.<\/p>\n
What are we expecting from Westerg\u00e5rd this season?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s, well, complicated. We don\u2019t know where Westerg\u00e5rd is going to play next season, but the expectation (or at least the hope) is that he plays in a pro league for the entire season and establishes him enough to build on the hype that he constructed during the last several months.<\/p>\n
If Westerg\u00e5rd is back in juniors to start the year, it will be a disappointment. He\u2019s clearly shown that he is too good for that level of play and it wouldn\u2019t challenge him at all. And since it\u2019s not some CHL-esque rule of having to play out your years there if you\u2019re not heading to college, why not start the season with him in the SHL and see how it goes?<\/p>\n