The Panthers have added some depth on the back end as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that they have claimed defenseman Gustav Forsling off waivers from Carolina.
The 24-year-old actually cleared waivers last season and spent the entirety of the 2019-20 season in the minors with AHL Charlotte. Forsling, never known for his offensive prowess, had a decent campaign in terms of point production, putting up eight goals and 18 assists in 56 games with the Checkers before the pandemic shut down the rest of the season.
While he was in the minors all of last year, Forsling does have 122 career games of NHL experience, all with Chicago from 2016-17 through 2018-19 with most of those coming under Joel Quenneville, now the head coach of the Panthers. He averaged more than 17 minutes per game and it’s quite possible that he’ll be able to hold his own in a third-pairing role with Florida. Having said that, Forsling likely slots in as the seventh or eighth defender on the depth chart so he may need to wait for some injuries to arise to get his chance with his new team.