Why it might be time for the Senators to end the Anton Forsberg experiment
The Ottawa Senators were looking to find their new number one goaltender when the team lost Craig Anderson after the 2019-20 season. In the 2021-22 season, Anton Forsberg appeared to be the next guy after Anderson when he went 22-17-4 with a 2.82 goals against average and .917 save percentage.
Unfortunately, Forsberg struggled the next two seasons. Forsberg finished with a goals against average over 3.20 in each season, and didn't start more than 30 games in either season.
When the Senators traded for Linus Ullmark in June 2024, it was obvious the team had seen enough of Forsberg trying to be the starting goaltender for the future. Even with the trade for Ullmark, Forsberg had a chance to be a reliable backup to Ullmark, and earn the Senators' trust back. However, the Forsberg experiment in Ottawa might end soon after a disaster start in goal.
Forsberg's ugly season debut may have caused him to be at the end of his Sens tenure
The Senators defeated the Los Angeles Kings in overtime yesterday to improve to 2-1-0 on the season. Even with the win, the biggest takeaway from the game was that goaltending can be a major issue if Ullmark is not starting. The Senators won the game 8-7, but it wasn't easy with goaltending being an issue.
Forsberg got his first start of the season yesterday due to Ullmark dealing with a strain. Forsberg's start got ugly immediately when the Kings scored two goals in 55 seconds less than halfway into the first period. When Adrian Kempe made the score 3-1 Kings at 5:31 of the second period, Forsberg was pulled by head coach Travis Green. Forsberg allowed three goals on nine shots on goal by the Kings. That's not a great start to the season whatsoever by Forsberg.
Mads Sogaard took over in relief of Forsberg. While Sogaard did allow one more goal than Forsberg after coming in relief, Sogaard finished the game with 13 saves.
Forsberg is 31 years old and Sogaard is 23 years old. Even though Sogaard may be inexperienced with only starting 24 games in the NHL, it may be better for the Senators to let Sogaard stay in the NHL and get used to NHL play. Sogaard can also learn from Ullmark and get some development from a former Vezina Trophy winner.
Forsberg is also an unrestricted free agent after 2025 as well. If the Senators don't want to keep Sogaard in the NHL, the team can also look into trading Forsberg for another goaltender to be Ullmark's backup. With the poor season debut Forsberg had, it might put the Senators in a position to shop him quicker.