Filip Forsberg is having a career year, and he’s thanking his new buddies

It’s been a great first half of the season for Filip Forsberg of the Nashville Predators.

With 16 goals and 36 points in his 31 first games, he’s the team leader in basically all the offensive categories. If he maintains his current average throughout the season, he will end up with more than 40 goals and close to 100 points, making this the best season of his career. 

The Swedish star is currently excelling on Nashville’s first line alongside newcomers Gustav Nyquist and Ryan O’Reilly. The trio formed one of the NHL’s best lines at the start of the season. 

“We’ve had a good vibe all season,” Forsberg says. “We’ve been playing really well together. They are veterans and really good players, and I think we see hockey in the same way. We want to hold onto the puck and not give it away unnecessarily. We want to be strong on the puck and try to find each other. I want to give a lot of credit to them, of course.”

Nashville has always been considered a ”Swedish club” during Filip Forsberg’s years in Tennesee, but lately, the Swedes have been disappearing one by one. Longtime Nashville players Viktor Arvidsson and Mattias Ekholm were traded to Los Angeles and Edmonton, respectively, and there was no continuation for Rasmus Asplund who joined last season.

How nice is it to have Gustav Nyquist on the team?

“It’s fun, of course. Historically, we’ve always had many Swedes, and I think we’ve been at least three the whole time I’ve been here. Especially since Mattias Ekholm had been here ever since I came. At one point we were up to six Swedes on the team, so there’s definitely been a change lately. I knew Gustav a little before, and it’s been fun getting to know him and his family better too. He’s been a great addition.”

Overall, there’s a lot that’s new in Nashville, which missed the playoffs for the first time since 2014 last season. Andrew Brunette is the new coach, and David Poile has handed over the GM baton to Barry Trotz after 26 years of service. Also, besides long-time Predator Mattias Ekholm, both Ryan Johansen and Matt Duchene have left the organization.

Does it feel like a fresh start for Nashville Predators as a club?

“Yes, it is. Especially since we have both a new GM and a new coach. There was a breaking-in period for everyone during the training camp and the first ten games. Everything was new then. So it has definitely been a fresh start and it took a few weeks before we got into it. The last few weeks we’ve been playing better and then the results also came. Moreover, we have some new players, especially on the forward side, and some new, young players from Milwaukee (AHL) who are stepping up.”

Last season’s playoff miss wasn’t particularly unexpected, given the many injuries the Nashville Predators had. A group of the team’s prominent players were out, which meant that lesser-known names like Tommy Novak, Juuso Pärssinen, and Luke Evangelista had to take unexpectedly big roles.

One of the injured was Forsberg. He played his last match in mid-February, sustaining a concussion after a collision with Philadelphia’s Finnish defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen. It was the sixth consecutive season Forsberg suffered an injury that caused him to miss several games.

“It was sad. Especially when the team was in a playoff push and that’s the most fun hockey of the year. It was tough – but unfortunately, that’s part of the job. There are many advantages, but that’s the downside,” Forsberg explains.

“But I had a good support team around the team and with my wife and family and all that. These are things you need to get through, and I feel like I came out on the right side.”

Initially, the injury was assessed as “day to day”, then “week to week”, and eventually, it became clear that the season was over.

Are you surprised it took so long to come back?

“It’s hard to say. You always hope. You live on hope. At first, you just want to come back and play, especially as the matches were so important. Then, as time goes on… We were on the edge of the playoffs, and (Juuse) Raros stood on his head for the last 40 games. He’s the one who kept us alive, for it wasn’t just me who was injured. We had five, or six more players out. It’s incredible that we had the chance all the way in, but that was largely thanks to him.

“We knew that if we couldn’t get players back, it would be tough in the playoffs regardless, but with a goalkeeper like him, you always have a chance. So we did everything we could for me to come back. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen – and we missed the playoffs.”

The star forward explains that he still got off relatively lightly, even though the injury absence was long.

“Of course, it affected me a little, but you hear real horror stories about people who can’t go outside because it’s too much with the light and sound and all that. The first few days after the hit, I was a bit sensitive, but could still live a normal life. If you can say that when I couldn’t be part of and play,” he says with a light laugh.

“There are people who’ve had worse hits and feel worse for a week – but then can come back and everything is calm. For me, it was a bit milder, but longer-lasting instead.”

After playing all 82 games during his first three full NHL seasons, Filip Forsberg has missed 15, 18, six, 17, 13, and 32 games in the six following seasons.

Is it frustrating?

“Yes, of course, it’s frustrating. But there’s not much to do about it either. I shouldn’t speak too soon, and of course, everyone understands that no one wants a concussion, but the injuries have come after unlucky hits. It would be different if I had pulled my groin or hamstrings or something like that. If I had recurring strain injuries, I would have bigger problems.

“I don’t feel like I’m injury-prone, it’s been more bad luck.”

Is it just bad luck, or can you learn to act differently in various situations?

“It’s a bit of both. You learn from everything, both the good and the bad. But for example, the hit I got last season was just bad luck. It was the head that got the first impact on the ice. It was a hit that actually happens several times a season, but then you land a bit better and get up an arm or something. Now it was just bad luck. But you learn from everything.”