A few things happened with Berg:
- first, he was picked in the mid-1990s at a time when size/grit was at an absolute premium and the league was heading into the darkness of the dead-puck era. If he were to come along today, he'd probably still be a first-rounder but not go nearly as high. On the flipside, a guy like Ryan Ellis wouldn't have been taken in the first 3 rounds of the draft in 1995 as a defender at his size.
- Berg was one of those guys who matured physically very early. Was 210 lbs. and hit like a truck when he was 17. The fact that he was so physically dominant against kids probably made him look like a better prospect than he actually was.
- LA rushed Berg to the NHL when he was 18. Instead of being in a comfortable environment in Europe for another year or two to develop his overall skill level and offensive game, he was thrown into the fire in the NHL and had to cope. Go out on the 3rd pairing, only ever make the safest play possible. Didn't play another shift on the PP at any level after he was 18. As a result his skill level (which was decent at lower levels - scored 6 points in 5 games at the 1994 World U-18s at the age of only 16) completely stagnated. Textbook example of how to rush and mis-handle a young player.
And in the end, Berg wasn't *that* bad. He was a solid, serviceable bottom-pairing defender for a number of years, and left the NHL on his choosing in 2006 to go back to Europe - could have hung around a few more years if he'd wanted to.