Nashville Predators: Filip Forsberg’s Success Adds to the Uncertainty

While the Nashville Predators keep finding ways to win and stay relevant in the Central Division, their star player Filip Forsberg also continues to shine.

Last night the Nashville Predators rocked the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 6-0 win, with Forsberg chipping in four of those goals. He could’ve easily had a fifth goal sprinkled in there as well. He was that dominant throughout the night, and Columbus had no answer for him.

Bask in the glory of this goal from Forsberg against Columbus that gave him the hat trick thanks to a gorgeous assist from

Mikael Granlund

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With his four-goal night against Columbus, Forsberg is now up to 10 goals in just 13 games this season. Add another five assists to that total and an asinine shooting percentage of over 32 percent and you have yourself a player that’s out to prove to the league that he’s worth a big contract next offseason.

Forsberg tossed the love right back to his teammates, including Granlund’s four assists, for why he was able to tally an unprecedented four goals in one game, per the team’s official website.

“I think the unreal part was Granlund’s passes. I don’t know how he made them happen, but all four goals were just tee-ups and I finished them off, obviously”. -Filip Forsberg on his 4-goal night

Can the Nashville Predators convince Filip Forsberg to stay?

Forsberg’s future in Nashville remains very uncertain as he’ll become an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, and with that almost certainly required a hefty price tag from whichever team signs him, including the Predators. Don’t expect a hometown discount.

I’m sorry, but I find it hard to believe that Forsberg will be enticed to stay in Nashville long-term if the team doesn’t show him that they’re building something quick. That means more than just another unceremonious first round playoff exit. It’s going to take more.

But before any of that’s answered, the Predators have to navigate past the trade deadline and run the risk of losing Forsberg for nothing. If they traded him now, they’d get a quality return from a team who feels like maybe they’re just one top player away from making a run at the Stanley Cup.

This leaves General Manager David Poile in a very tricky dilemma. One that will only get more complicated if Forsberg keeps piling up the goals and leading the team to victory. If that keeps happening, then Poile might just have no choice but to back up the money truck and give Forsberg what he wants, even if it’s too steep. Even that might not be enough if Forsberg decides he has a better chance at winning a Stanley Cup elsewhere.

Poile kind of finds himself in a lose-lose situation here. If he trades Forsberg, then that will signal that he doesn’t believe in the team’s chances this year which would be a bad signal to the team.

If Poile takes the risky approach of holding onto Forsberg to the end of the season, there’s a very real scenario that the Predators lose in the first round anyway and then also lose Forsberg for nothing. Talk about a double gut punch if that happens.

I’m not going to pretend to know what the right answer is right now. The Predators have a little time to figure it out and let the season play out. They’re in third place in the Central Division, but it’s a very crowded race as usual.

However, if the Predators keep on winning thanks to Forsberg’s leadership, then it’s going to be really hard not to pay the man substantially in order to keep him here.