A New Era for Filip Forsberg
Nashville will need elite level scoring and plenty of off ice leadership from Filip Forsberg in this Predators' reset.
A New Era for Filip ForsbergLast summer Predators fans finally exhaled as David Poile announced on Jul 9, 2022 that the team had re-signed forward Filip Forsberg to a long term contract. Both parties were upfront about wanting to keep Forsberg in Nashville, but as the 2021-22 season ended and the offseason dragged on with no news, fans got nervous.
Forsberg was in a great position for the negotiations. He had just completed his best career season that helped seal the eventual 8 year, $68 million dollar deal last July. Forsberg chased the franchise single season goal record with line mate Matt Duchene, finishing with 42 goals - one goal behind Duchene - and ending the 2021-22 season with 84 points.
Expectations were high for Forsberg in 2022-23. In an eleven game stretch from mid October to mid November Forsberg logged 13 points, and in nine games from late December through mid January the Swedish winger scored 9 goals including a hat trick against the Vegas Golden Knights on New Year's Eve. His season came to an abrupt end on February 11 when a hit from Philadelphia Flyers' defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen resulted in Forsberg hitting the ice hard and suffering a concussion. It was a scary incident to watch.
"It was probably even worse than it looked," Forsberg later said of his injury.
The unpredictable ebbs and flows of concussion recovery kept Forsberg out of the lineup for the remainder of the season.
"Unfortunately, time ran out," he said.
Instead of helping the team battle for a postseason chance, Forsberg had to watch as a roster of young players stepped up and kept the Predators playing meaningful hockey through the final games of the regular season.
One of the young players that impressed Forsberg was 22 year old Juuso Pärssinen. Forsberg played with the 2019 late round diamond in the rough earlier in the season and liked what he saw.
"Pärssinen and I played together for probably ten games," Forsberg said. "They were kind of around the time I was playing some of my better offense of the season, and I was really excited playing with him."
Forsberg went on to praise the "typical Finnish" center for his two way game, his drive, size, and skating ability.
Watching young players like Pärssinen was both exciting and frustrating for Forsberg during his recovery process. He credited the youth for keeping the team competitive down the stretch after veterans were traded and injured, but Forsberg wanted to be back out on the ice as well.
Avoiding injury will be critical for Forsberg and the Predators next season. Forsberg played three full 82 game seasons from 2014 to 2017 but has struggled with injuries at different times in his career. Since becoming a full time NHL'er in 2014-2015, Forsberg has missed 14% of Nashville's regular season games. The Predators will need a full season from him going forward.
Healthy again, Forsberg must become Nashville's premier scoring threat in 2023-24.
Barry Trotz believes in Forsberg. The new GM is looking to get faster and more skilled offensively, and Forsberg is the player Trotz has touted to spearhead that style of play. Forsberg, along with Roman Josi and Juuse Saros, are core players Trotz sold to free agent targets like Ryan O'Reilly as proof Nashville isn't starting at square one with a full on rebuild.
Forsberg will have to do that without familiar offensive partners. His most successful years were with Duchene, and before that Forsberg flourished with line mates Viktor Arvidsson and Ryan Johansen. The "JoFA" line, as the Johansen, Forsberg, and Arvidsson trio was dubbed, led the Predators in points in the 2016-2017 Stanley Cup Finals season. Trotz made the decision to trade Ryan Johansen to the Colorado Avalanche and bought out the remainder of Matt Duchene's contract once he took over the front office in June. Now Forsberg will be one of just a handful of experienced Predators veterans in the top six.
His twelfth season will present new challenges and opportunities for Filip Forsberg. The weight of being Nashville's best offensive threat falls directly on his shoulders, and he will have to balance that pressure with the responsibility of helping lead a younger roster as well. How Forsberg does on the ice and in the locker room in 2023-24 will weigh heavily on the early outcome of this Predators' reset.