The 2025-26 season saw the Florida Panthers' Gustav Forsling and Aaron Ekblad struggle. With improved team health and a new goaltending situation, could we see the Panthers' top pairing bounce back?
In truth, it wasn't a great season for the Florida Panthers, either individually or as a team, in 2025-26.
Injuries continuously mounted, and fatigue was apparent after three consecutive runs to the Stanley Cup Final. A few players posted career-best numbers, but for the most part, it was a season for most Panthers players to forget.
This was most certainly true for the Panthers' top defensive pairing of Gustav Forsling and Aaron Ekblad.
The duo wasn't awful by any means, but throughout the Panthers' most successful era, Forsling and Ekblad have been dynamite together, and that wasn't the case last year.
The duo at 5-on-5 were on the ice for more goals against than they scored, as Forsling was outscored 72-65 and Ekblad was outscored 57-54, according to naturalstattrick.com. This was not the case in any of the prior seasons, as not only did the Panthers outscore their opponents with Forsling and Ekblad on the ice, but it wasn't particularly close.
That can once again be attributed to the fact that nearly the entire Panthers lineup was depleted by injuries, and that they played a portion of the season when the games meant nothing in terms of challenging for the playoffs. Still, even at the beginning of the season, before things went south, the signs were apparent.
According to moneypuck.com, the Panthers owned just 50.9 percent of the expected goals with the Forsling-Ekblad pairing on the ice at 5-on-5. In 2024-25, it was 54.6 percent; in 2023-24, 58.9 percent; and in 2022-23, 51.7 percent. Despite playing their fourth season together, they posted their worst numbers.
Possibly the quietest reason why the Forsling-Ekblad pairing struggled was due to the absence of Aleksander Barkov, the NHL's best defensive center. Barkov is key to the Panthers limiting chances against them, as when he plays against the opponent's best players, he not only shuts them down but also controls the pace of play.
The final factor could be that the Panthers' goaltending struggled. Natutralstattrick.com shows that Forsling had an on-ice save percentage of .881, the worst among defensemen on the Panthers. Ekblad's wasn't much better at .894.
With Barkov's return and possibly improved goaltending, Forsling and Ekblad's on-ice numbers should improve, but they ultimately did not play well enough last season. If the Panthers are going to be a successful defensive team, the play of Forsling and Ekblad needs to improve drastically.
Puck moving, defensive zone coverage, and mitigating transition opportunities all need to be better from the Panthers' top defensive pairing.
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