The pressure is on for the Nashville Predators in the 2019-20 season, but one player who can take the heat is Filip Forsberg
Filip Forsberg has been one of the Nashville Predators most reliable players for the past five seasons, and this season might be the one where he breaks out and has a career year.
Yes, I said it, a career year. Even after we saw Forsberg score 30 goals twice (including a franchise record at the time of 33), there is still another level that he can take his game to this season.
With the addition of Matt Duchene, the Predators are going to be so deep on offense that the opposing defense will have to pay less attention to the JOFA line, giving Forsberg more room to operate on offense.
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This upgrade offensively could allow Forsberg to reach heights never before reached by a Nashville Predators player- 40 goals.
In their 20 year history, the Nashville Predators franchise record for goals in a season is 34, which was set last year by Filip Forsberg’s linemate, Viktor Arvidsson.
This could be because the Predators haven’t had as good of a forward core as they had this year, with their success having been orientated around defense and goaltending, but this year looks different.
If healthy, as he did miss at least 15 games in his last two seasons, Filip Forsberg could benefit greatly from this newfound offensive firepower, and having just turned 25 a year ago, we haven’t even seen him at his full potential just yet.
The Predators second line will now consist of Matt Duchene playing alongside Mikael Granlund and one of Kyle Turris or Craig Smith, which will be a problem for the opposition, as they will now have to have their best defensive pairings out against both lines, allowing Forsberg to operate even more smoothly.
The more high powered offensive structure will allow Forsberg to score more goals, and with the addition of Dan Lambert, the power play will be able to operate a lot better than it did last season.
With a better power play, we could be prepared for Forsberg to shatter his previous career highs and establish himself as one of the NHL’ s best young stars, scoring 40 goals and adding 46 assists, amounting to 86 points, which will break Paul Kariya‘s single-season points record of 85.
The stage is set for Filip Forsberg to take over as the face of the Nashville Predators offense, and as long as he stays healthy, he will be able to do it.
At the age of 25, Forsberg will just be entering his prime, so this year will be key in showing what type of player he will be in the future- a potential superstar.