Nashville Predators Season Grades: Filip Forsberg

Some of the big stars of the Nashville Predators were criticized during the team’s downward spirals, but where did Filip Forsberg fit into that?

There’s always going to be high expectations for a player on the talent level and skill level of Filip Forsberg, He’s expected to be a main catalyst to the success of the Nashville Predators.

Forsberg has 21 goals on the 2019-20 season, while also putting up 27 assists. If the season were to be completed, there’s a good chance he would eclipse 30 assists and come close to his career high in that category.

But there is reason to be somewhat impatient about waiting to see Forsberg take that next big step in his career to an elite level. He’s not there quite yet, but his game keeps evolving.

Season overview

If the season does end prematurely, you can say Forsberg went out with a bang putting up two goals and an assist in a win over Montreal.

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Then you have to consider all of the lineups changes that went on throughout the season for the Predators. It didn’t help at all when it comes to building team chemistry and maximizing the talent on the team.

The organization eventually made a decision to move on from Peter Laviolette at head coach, and since then the entire team gradually started building more chemistry.

One other statistic that stands out for me on Forsberg’s season is his shooting percentage is the lowest of his career since becoming a full-time player in 2014. His shot output was also slightly lower than what we’ve normally seen him produce.

I would like to see Forsberg take that next step into an elite category. I know the talent and skill level is there, but he’s never been able to take that next big leap. He’s still in the prime of his career at age 25, and I’m pretty optimistic that he’s still on the right path to becoming a 60-plus point scorer.

If he could’ve played the full 82 games this season, he would’ve had a very realistic chance at surpassing 60 points for the fourth time of his career.

Some of the criticism of wanting more from Forsberg is warranted. We know what he’s capable of, and he did have some disappearing acts in critical games, but that’s going to happen to almost any player.

Maintained his career pace

You might disagree with the high grade I’m giving him based on you having extremely high expectations for him, but I saw a player who started affecting the game in positive ways aside from just purely scoring goals.

Forsberg maintained solid assists numbers, had strong possession metrics, amassed 14 points on the power play and remained fairly reliable using his size to be physically opposing.

If anything, Forsberg maintained his pace that he’s kept pretty consistent over the course of his NHL career. He didn’t take a big jump, but we didn’t really see a decline that should worry you, either.

Then, of course, we have the lacrosse-style goal that Forsberg pulled off against the Edmonton Oilers. It would be blasphemy if we didn’t share this for you to watch as many times as your heart desires:

I’m hoping to see a full 82-game slate from Forsberg next season, and that he can get more time with

Matt Duchene

and

Mikael Granlund

on the same line. This is the trio that I believe works best for him and will bring out his best production.

This season wasn’t perfect from Forsberg by any means, but he still did so many things well and is vital to this team’s success and where they finished in the standings.

Let’s end this on a positive note through all of this with a personal message from Forsberg himself, via the Nashville Predators official Twitter account: