Let’s start with the good: Anton Forsberg ended his 2015-16 season in the best possible way. The 7th round pick from 2011 took over from Joonas Korpisalo in the middle of the series against Grand Rapids. Starting with the clinching game of that series, Forsberg went 9-0 in 9 starts, with a playoff-best 1.34 GAA, 0.949 save percentage and 2 shutouts. The second shutout came in the Cup-clinching victory over Hershey.
Now the bad: Forsberg’s North American career has been a roller coaster ride. After being an AHL All-Star in 2014-15, his numbers in the 2015-16 regular season declined. His NHL numbers improved slightly from 2014-15 to 2015-16, but neither audition impressed. Joonas Korpisalo, on the other hand, performed much better in Columbus and appeared to have passed Forsberg on the organizational depth chart. It remains to be seen whether the Calder Cup playoffs have changed that.
Statistics
Outlook for 2016-17
Assuming that the Jackets stick with the status quo, Forsberg (along with Korpisalo) will return to Cleveland to start the season. History suggests that an injury will happen to the one of the veteran goaltenders and one of the Monsters will get an extended run as replacement starter. Both are RFAs at the end of the season and Columbus will have to decide which one to stick with as the long term backup/replacement to Sergei Bobrovsky.