Anton Forsberg was put in a tough situation last season. Extremely tough. For one, he had gigantic shoes to fill.
The Blackhawks traded Scott Darling’s negotiating rights to Carolina in April of 2017 after he was set to become an unrestricted free agent, ending a three-year run in Chicago where he became one of the most reliable backup goaltenders in franchise history. They don’t win a Stanley Cup in 2015 without him, plain and simple.
So when Forsberg was acquired by the Blackhawks later that summer as part of the package that sent Artemi Panarin to Columbus and Brandon Saad back to Chicago, there was an immediate expectation that he would become Corey Crawford’s backup.