Improving Forsling only reminds Canucks of what they’re missing
Fans of the Vancouver Canucks might have trouble stomaching Lance Bouma’s scouting report on Gustav Forsling.
“He’s very smart, very fast and moves the puck well,” Bouma said of his Blackhawks teammate after Chicago’s morning skate on Thursday at Rogers Arena in preparation for meeting the Vancouver Canucks that night.
“I think he’s improved a lot from last year, and he’s still a young guy,” added Bouma.
Forsling, a 21-year-old defenceman, has all the tools to develop into the NHL power-play quarterback that the Canucks have been searching for seemingly forever, according to Bouma’s account.
The Canucks had Forsling until they dealt their 2014 fifth-round draft pick out of Linkoping, Sweden to the Blackhawks on Jan. 29, 2015 in exchange for defenceman Adam Clendening.
Clendening played 17 games with Vancouver that season before being shipped to the Pittsburgh Penguins that summer as part of the Brandon Sutter deal. Clendening has since made stops with the Anaheim Ducks, Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers and Arizona Coyotes.
We’re all perfect with the advantage of hindsight. Clendening is four years Forsling ’s senior and, at the time of the trade, the Canucks were missing Kevin Bieksa and Alex Edler to injuries, as well as then-defence prospect Frank Corrado.
General manager Jim Benning wanted someone to step in right away, and Clendening did have some pedigree, considering he was a 2011 second-round pick of the Blackhawks.
It doesn’t mean that it’s not going to sting for Vancouver fans if Forsling keeps trending up, though.
He made the tournament all-star team at the 2015 world juniors. Also honoured on that squad were Sam Reinhart, Max Domi and Connor McDavid. He captained the Swedes at the world juniors the following year, too.
Going into Thursday night, Forsling had three goals and nine assists through 32 games, and was averaging 19 minutes, 38 seconds of ice time per game, the fourthbest total among Chicago rearguards.
He would be tied for the points lead among Canucks defencemen. Vancouver went into Thursday night’s action with six goals from all of its rearguards combined.
Thursday marked Forsling ’s first matchup against his former team. The six-foot, 186-pound left-handed shot split last season between the Blackhawks and their AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs.
“I had a good time when I was here,” said Forsling, pointing to a Canucks’ summertime development camp. “I remember going up to Whistler. I have really cool memories.
“I didn’t see a trade coming. I was still very young. I was back home in Sweden. I didn’t think about it. I was a bit surprised.”
Forsling was quick to credit Chicago’s veteran blue-liners Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and Cody Franson with giving him advice that has aided in his development. Franson and Bouma, the robust left winger, are former Vancouver Giants teammates. They both joined Chicago this past off-season.
“There are guys here who have had success and it rubs off on everyone,” said Bouma, who signed with the Blackhawks as an unrestricted free agent after being bought out by the Calgary Flames.
“I think it’s huge for a guy like Forsling. There are a few young guys that it’s really good for.”