Forsling just continues to dominate for the Panthers and it is a reminder to the Blackhawks to be careful of who they give up on too early.
As long as Gustav Forsling continues to impress and stand out with the Florida Panthers, the worse it looks and feels for the Chicago Blackhawks who had him at a time.
Forsling is a waiver claim by the Panthers that has turned into what head coach Paul Maurice describes as "in his style of defense that he's the best defenseman in the world."
This is backed up by a lot of evidence in favor of Forsling and his play. The most impressive is that he and his defense partner Aaron Ekblad have completely shut down the opposition's top stars in each series at 5-on-5. As arguably the number one defenseman on Florida, Forsling plays a ton of tough minutes.
Forsling and Ekblad have been on the ice for one 5-on-5 goal against this playoff run against Nikita Kucherov, David Pastrnak, Mika Zibanejad/Chris Kreider, and Connor McDavid/Leon Draisaitl. To add to this, the Panthers had a 13-3 advantage in shot attempts and a 76% in expected goals at 5-on-5 with Forsling on the ice in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final.
How did Forsling slip out of the hands of the Blackhawks you may ask. Well Chicago traded his and Anton Forsberg's signing rights to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Calvin de Haan and the signing rights of Aleksi Saarela in 2019. Forsling was 22 at the time and only maxed out at 43 games in a season over the first three years in the NHL for the Blackhawks. Less than two years later and he already showed signs of turning into the elite defenseman he is now.
The Blackhawks will not soon forget how he slipped through their fingers, but there is now new management and a new path upwards in the standings. Chicago can't look back and there are many solid defensive prospects in the system right now. The team has to ensure they don't give up on the wrong prospect too soon and have another Forsling situation on their hands in a few years.