Carolina Hurricanes: The Case of Anton Forsberg

Anton Forsberg was awarded a one-year contract in arbitration this week. The contract being one-way has some people talking about Forsberg’s future in Carolina.

On the 6th of August, Anton Forsberg was awarded a one-way, one-year contract with the Carolina Hurricanes organization by arbitration. On the 24th of June, the Hurricanes traded away Calvin de Haan and Aleksi Saarela, in exchange for Forsberg and Gustav Forsling from the Chicago Blackhawks.

Don Waddell has put Anton Forsberg, Alex Nedeljkovic, and James Reimer in the mix to compete to be the backup netminder for the Carolina Hurricanes, behind Petr Mrazek. Nedeljkovic and Reimer shine to be the favorites right now; while Forsberg is an underdog, he isn’t expected to beat out either Reimer or Nedeljkovic.

In the 2014-15 season, Forsberg played 5 games and won none of those games. In the 2015-16 season, he won one game and lost three. In the 2016-17 season, he played one game and lost it. All of these seasons, he spent with the Columbus Blue Jackets, he didn’t get many opportunities, but the ones he did, he didn’t show promise.

Finally, in the 2017-18 season, Anton Forsberg actually got 35 starts in goal, due to Corey Crawford being out with a concussion for much of the season for the Chicago Blackhawks. Forsberg registered 10 wins and 20 losses, with a .908% save percentage. In the 2018-19 season, the Blackhawks moved on to Cam Ward, Corey Crawford, and Collin Delia, leaving Forsberg to play in the AHL with the Rockford IceHogs.

With Forsberg’s newly awarded contract in arbitration, he will be paid $775,000 whether he wins the backup job in Carolina or not. He will have to go through waivers, if sent down to the Charlotte Checkers now, as the contract is a one-way contract. It is unlikely though, that a team picks up Forsberg off waivers, with his one-way contract.

Right now, Mrazek, Nedeljkovic, and Reimer are up in Raleigh. Jeremy Helvig and Callum Booth are down in Charlotte. If Forsberg does not live up to potential and play lights out in either Raleigh or Charlotte, he could find himself on the trade block. There are a lot of goalies in the organization currently, making Forsberg almost expendable.

Perhaps Anton Forsberg does shock some people, and wins the backup job. It wouldn’t be a surprise that if he doesn’t impress people, he will be sent off in a package to another team that brings back valuable assets for the Hurricanes. It is doubtful that Waddell will let Forsberg slip away in free agency in 2020, without something in return.

Question for Cardiac Cane Readers: Will Anton Forsberg prove the people wrong? Can he actually win the backup job, as a one-two punch with Petr Mrazek?