Forsling had ‘different journey’ on road to becoming star defenseman for Panthers

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Gustav Forsling's opportunity to rise into a top NHL defenseman is one of the tentacles coming off the Florida Panthers' franchise-changing acquisition of Matthew Tkachuk.

"That's the trade that made it available for me," Forsling told NHL.com. "That summer I was like, 'Maybe they actually believe I could be that guy.'"

Forsling has blossomed into “that guy” on the blue line for the Panthers, who are one win away from repeating as Stanley Cup champions.

They can hoist Lord Stanley again as soon as Tuesday in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers at Amerant Bank Arena (8 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC).

Forsling has been impressive in the Cup Final despite having only one assist. He's averaging 26:44 of ice time per game, and a lot of it has come against star forwards Connor McDavid and/or Leon Draisaitl, sometimes playing against them at the same time.

McDavid and Draisaitl have combined for three goals with Forsling on the ice, two at even strength.

"He's one of the best in the League at shutting down plays," Florida center Sam Bennett said. "I mean, he doesn't have an easy job at all shutting down their top guys. They have, obviously, some guys that have a lot of skill on that team, so it's a tough job for him, but he's so good at it.

“I think he's the best defensive defenseman in the League. His plays, they're really incredible."

To acquire Tkachuk on July 22, 2022, the Panthers sent forward Jonathan Huberdeau and defenseman MacKenzie Weegar to the Calgary Flames.

Weegar was Aaron Ekblad's regular defense partner in 2021-22, when he averaged 23:22 of ice time, had 44 points (six goals, 38 assists) and was plus-40. Weegar and Ekblad made up the top pair on a team that won the Presidents' Trophy (58-18-6).

But Weegar's departure allowed then-new coach Paul Maurice to re-imagine Florida's defense pairs. After analyzing who might fit best on Ekblad’s left side, Maurice went with Forsling, who was playing regularly with Radko Gudas.

That decision has proven to be one of the most underrated brilliant moves Maurice and the Panthers have made in their dominant three-year run as the best team in the NHL.

"It goes back to experience I had when I first went into Winnipeg," Maurice said. "They had a challenge there of top players scoring against them. They had a very high rate of the top players scoring against them. So, the first thing we said is who is the best checking center we got? It was Bryan Little at the time. We had Michael Frolik playing on the third line and the other was Andrew Ladd, who was playing in the 2-hole. So, we put them all together and said that's their job -- play against the other team's best.

“Where Florida needed to take the next step at the time was in some of its defensive game. So, it was clear that we felt Aaron Ekblad was the No. 1 guy on the right side and Gustav Forsling, who hadn’t played with him (on the left). So, we just put that as a priority that (Aleksander) Barkov and those two guys will have to play against the other team's best, and he's built for that."

Forsling rarely needs to use force to shut plays down.

He is known for defending with his body position and his defensive slides to cut off lanes and angles, admittedly risking taking a puck to the face every time. His stick-on-puck defending is as good as it gets in the NHL.

"I mean, you talk about one of the best defensive sticks in the League that I’ve ever seen really close-up as well," Panthers defenseman Seth Jones said. "Not really physical, but a great skater, great defensive awareness and he's got a good shot as well.

“I think his offensive game is pretty underrated. He doesn't get the special teams time to really inflate those numbers, but he's had some great sticks on some of their top players not just in this series but throughout the playoffs. He really stifles guys."

Ekblad said Forsling would be in the top two or three in the Norris Trophy voting every season if he was getting power-play time too "and getting all those free primary and secondary assists."

Forsling finished 13th in the Norris Trophy vote this season. He was ninth last season.

"Does he get enough recognition?" Ekblad said. "Probably not. At the end of the day, personal accolades are not something we chase. But he definitely deserves to be in that conversation every year."

Forsling isn't without accolades, though.

For four years running he has been the Panthers' preseason fitness champion, a challenge that includes a bike test, strength work and other exercises.

"He's paid for that," Maurice said.

Florida signed Forsling to an eight-year contract on March 7, 2024. He is one of the ultimate overcome-adversity success stories in the League.

"There were for sure moments where you didn't believe that you were probably going to make it," Forsling said.

His journey started 11 years ago, when he was selected by the Vancouver Canucks in the fifth round (No. 126) of the 2014 NHL Draft.

"Not a lot of people know that," Forsling said of being selected by the Canucks.

That's because his draft rights were traded to the Chicago Blackhawks on Jan. 29, 2015.

He played three seasons with Chicago, bouncing between the NHL and American Hockey League from 2016-19. He got an opportunity, played 122 NHL games, but it wasn't easy on him, which is likely why he was minus-8 and had only 27 points (eight goals, 19 assists) with Chicago.

"I came over young; I was 20," Forsling said. "It was very much learning in the beginning. I played really well and I got the chance, but I wasn't ready for it mentally, I think. In Sweden you play two, max three games a week, and here it's just games and games and games every other day. So, if you have a bad week, it's like four bad games in a row, bad two weeks it's eight. It stacks up.

“I think mentally I was not ready for it. It was something I had to learn."

The Blackhawks didn't give him a chance to learn. Then-general manager Stan Bowman, who is now Oilers GM, traded Forsling to the Carolina Hurricanes on June 24, 2019.

The Hurricanes never gave Forsling a chance. He never played a game for them, spending the 2019-20 season with Charlotte in the AHL before COVID hit. Carolina waived him on Jan. 8, 2021, before the shortened 2020-21 season began.

The Panthers claimed him the next day, making him an NHL regular. He signed a three-year contract the following summer and has been on the rise since, blossoming into one of the League's most dominant defenders.

"Everyone has a different journey," Forsling said. "There's going to be ups and downs. It's all about the journey. Looking back on it, I wouldn't change a thing. It's very cool."