Swedish forward Filip Forsberg does have a really great hockey name. However, he is not related to former NHL superstar Peter “Foppa” Forsberg. Already projected to be a top international player for the 2012 NHL Draft last year, Filip has really impressed scouts and analysts and even more on the international level at the Ivan Hlinka tournament during this past August. This is HockeyLobby’s top prospect #4.
Born in Östervåla, Sweden, young Forsberg has been playing his entire career in Sweden as he grew up watching and idolizing the same Foppa, who shares his last name. At 6ft1 and 176 lbs, Forsberg completely dominated at every junior level where he competed. In 2008-2009, he played for Leksand J-18 and U-16’s teams, where he recorded 21 and 17 points in respectively 15 and 8 games. The year after, Forsberg spent most of the season with the J-18 swad, recording 21 goals and 16 assists for 37 points in 31 games. Finally, last year in 2010-2011, Forsberg saw a fair number of games in both Leksand 1st division team and the J-20 squad. Playing at the age of 16, he scored 1 goal in 10 games in the Swedish Elite League, and scored 40 points (21g-19a) in 37 games for the junior club. And as the cherry on his sundae, Forsberg made a lot of impression at the Ivan Hlinka U-18 Memorial Tournament in August, as he helped Sweden to an unbeaten record till the finals, where they’ve lost the gold medal game to a determined team Canada by the count of 4-1. He finished the tourney with 6 points in 6 games. Thus far this year with Leksand in the SEL, Filip Forsberg has 2g-1a-3pts in 11 games.
A combination of size and high octane offensive skills, Filip Forsberg, a left winger, is on route on becoming the best Swedish forward prospect since Washington Capitals Nick Backstrom. His greatest asset as he, himself, would describe it, is his offensive flair. Though he does not possess the same high end speed that Oilers Magnus Paajarvi has, Forsberg does possess a better overall offensive toolset. He is more of a goal scorer than a playmaker, but his hockey IQ is really high. What makes him even more well rounded is his puck protection ability. He uses his body really well to cover the puck and is really strong on his feet as he rarely gets knock off his skates.
HockeyLobby is really high on this young Swedish prospect and when it’s all said and done, although he got selected HC Sibir Novosibirsk in the 2nd round (41st overall) of the KHL Junior Draft, we do think that Forsberg’s name will be call up on the Console Energy Center stage as early as number 4th overall for the 2012 NHL Entry draft. Not only does he possesses such high offensive upside, but is also a young guy who loves the game and seems to really enjoy playing it. His playing style reminds us a lot of an Ottawa Senators captain and one of Sweden’s best player, Daniel Alfredsson.
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