With the 2021-22 NHL season just around the corner, that means that teams will be commencing training camp in the next few days. Teams will be able to have the majority of their players come to camp, but the majority of players playing professionally in Europe, alongside the team’s NCAA prospects, will not be able to attend. One of the Islanders’ NCAA prospects is the recently-drafted Cameron Berg.

Berg, 19, was born on January 29, 2002, in West Fargo, North Dakota. At the age of 12, his family moved from West Fargo to White Bear Lake, Minnesota, a suburb of St. Paul. Cameron and his older sister, Alexa, were being scouted by a hockey school in the area, known then as Northern Educate Achiever Academy. He had a daily schedule of school, training, and on-ice practice at the academy.

After spending time with White Bear Lake 14U AA, Berg went to play for the Omaha AAA Lancers 16U. During his 16U season, he committed to play collegiate hockey at the University of Nebraska Omaha, and following a seven-game stint with the team where he scored four goals and seven points, he signed a tender with the Omaha Lancers, which allowed him to stay with the Lancers organization rather than being eligible for the 2018 USHL Draft.

Berg scored three goals and had 10 points in 51 games in his first season with Omaha, and he followed that up by scoring two goals and two assists in 14 games in 2019-20 before getting traded to the Muskegon Lumberjacks as a “throw-in” in the deal that got Muskegon 2019 Canadiens draft pick, Rhett Pitlick. He found much more success with the Lumberjacks, scoring 18 goals and 30 points in 32 games to close out the season.

Despite the strong end to his season, he went undrafted in the 2020 NHL Draft, his first year eligible. He went back to Muskegon for his “draft plus-one”, only to continue to find the scoring touch he found in the previous season, scoring 27 goals and tallying 58 points in 51 regular-season games, and adding four goals in four playoff games.

Berg was then drafted in the fourth round, 125th overall, by the New York Islanders in the 2021 NHL Draft. Not only does he join a group of players to be drafted in their “plus-one” season, but he also became the first player to ever get drafted from West Fargo.

Berg is now attending the University of Nebraska Omaha as a freshman this year. He is offensively-minded with a shoot-first mentality and a strong shot to back it up but has also become a great distributor who communicates well with whoever he is on the ice with. He has the potential to be an impact player for the Islanders, likely playing on the third line and getting time on the power play.

It’s always nice to have a second opinion on a prospect, so for a second opinion on Berg, I reached out to Will Scouch to give some input. Scouch is a McKeen’s Hockey contributor and founder of Scouching, where he takes both aspects of the “eye test” and advanced analytics to give a different perspective on the game to fans, especially focusing on the draft. You may recognize his name from his input in the 2020 Islanders’ Draft Analysis.

“Cameron Berg was one of my best undrafted players from 2020, and he remained on that list through to the 2021 Draft. The guy is a rush offense forward with a remarkable shot, great pace to his game, and a strong north-south attack mentality. There’s a decent amount of skill to evade pressure, but he’s more of a straight line, grip it and rip it style of scorer. His game rounded out past being primarily a goal scorer during his year with Muskegon, showing more of an ability to use linemates in offensive rushes and distribute pucks, but Berg is a great value pick as a re-entry player who has plenty of pace and potential offensive upside after some time in college.”

Look for Cameron Berg to have continued success at the University of Nebraska Omaha this year and beyond, and as he continues to progress, he will become much more of a key name to focus on in the Islanders’ prospect pool.

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