Panthers Pulse: Gustav Forsling Poised to Break into Norris Trophy Race

Following a standout 2023-24 season and a brand-new eight-year deal, Gustav Forsling has a chance to be among the NHL's elite.

Photo by Colby Guy

Leading up to the beginning of training camp, Pucks and Palms will be previewing each of the key pieces of the defending Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers in a series called ‘Panthers Pulse’ heading into the 2024-25 season. Gustav Forsling is next.

2023-24 Stats: 10 goals, 39 points, 79 GP (Playoffs: four goals, 13 points, 24 GP)

Last season, Gustav Forsling firmly put himself on the list of top NHL defensemen with his shutdown defense.

It was apparent all throughout the Florida Panthers run to the Stanley Cup — from the regular season to his efforts in helping shut down Connor McDavid in the final two games of the Stanley Cup Final — and he has a chance to do even more this coming season.

Brandon Montour and Oliver Ekman-Larsson are gone and the Panthers will need to find someone to quarterback their top power play unit. Forsling could be one of three contenders for that job.

There’s Aaron Ekblad, who has been Florida’s power play quarterback and shared PP2 duties with Forsling at times, and Adam Boqvist, a new arrival who has offensive upside from the back end but has not quite figured it out at the NHL level.

More on those two later on in this series.

Looking at the numbers, Forsling finished fourth in total power play time on ice behind the two departing defensemen and Ekblad. Forsling had 45:09 of power play time during the regular season while Ekblad had 72:55.

Ekblad had three goals and an assist while manning PP2 while Forsling had just one goal and an assist.

Forsling had more total points than Ekblad last season (39 to Ekblad’s 18 in 51 games) while his style of play translates well to that of a power play quarterback.

While his mindset on the ice is defense first, his speed and keen playmaking makes for clean breakouts, he is a great distributor of the puck in the offensive zone and he has a solid slap shot which he has showcased in multiple big moments. The skillset is there.

If he wins that job and takes that next step offensively, he could clearly solidify himself as a candidate for the Norris Trophy next season.

Numerous voters were already sold on him last year, with him finishing ninth in voting, but that point total means something to a lot of voters and he has an opportunity to make up some ground in that department.

Either way, the Panthers are going to be leaning on Forsling a lot next season after those key departures and he has proven that he is more than worthy of handling those responsibilities.

Up Next in Panthers Pulse:

Previously: Matthew Tkachuk