Nashville Predators winger Filip Forsberg has established a new franchise record for goals in a single season after scoring his 44th goal of the year on Friday against the Chicago Blackhawks.
The goal occurred in the early stages of the first period of Friday’s game when a cycle play by the Preds saw the puck take a funny bounce towards Forsberg along the half-board. Forsberg, 29, opted to fire a slap shot one-timer towards the net with that bounce, and the puck found its way to the top left corner of the net for his 44th of the season.
With that goal, Forsberg sets the new franchise record for goals in a single-season with goal #44. Going into the season, that record was previously held by Matt Duchene, who had 43 in the 2021-22 season. It’s also the third 40-goal campaign in Preds history, with the other season also being held by Forsberg when he scored 42 in the same season as Duchene’s 43-goal year. Forsberg also has the sixth-highest scoring season with 33 in 2015-16, and is tied for the ninth-highest with 31 in 2016-17.
Forsberg has bounced back from a 2022-23 season ravaged with injuries, as along with the 43 goals, he has 46 assists and 89 points in 79 games in 2023-24. All three are career-highs for the Ostervala, Sweden product, surpassing his previous career year in 2021-22 when he had 42 goals and 42 assists for 84 points in 69 games.
Forsberg was originally the 11th overall selection by the Washington Capitals in the 2012 NHL Draft, but he never played a game for the Capitals before they dealt him to the Predators in the infamous 2013 trade deadline deal that saw the Caps only get Martin Erat and Michael Latta in return. Forsberg made his NHL debut later that season, and after some time in the AHL in 2013-14, he established himself as a top-end NHL player in 2014-15 and never looked back for the following 10 seasons.
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