Lake Erie Monsters Win AHL Calder Cup Championship
By Ryan Ritchie
Lake Erie Monsters Win Calder Cup Championship After Overtime Goal by Playoff MVP Oliver Bjorkstrand
Lake Erie Monsters won the Calder Cup Championship in convincing fashion sweeping the Hershey Bears in the Finals – and with that, it seems Cleveland will celebrate a championship after all, just not the one they were hoping for (there might still be hope for the Cavs though, who knows?).
Blue Jackets AHL Affiliate Lake Erie went 15-2 during their epic postseason run, while goaltender Anton Forsberg went 9-0 with a 1.34 goals-against-average.
Lake Erie Monsters capped off their four game sweep on Saturday night with an overtime win against Hershey. Oliver Bjorkstrand scored with less than two seconds remaining, and went on to be named playoff MVP (Jack A. Butterfield Trophy).
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The Hershey Bears (Washington Capitals AHL affiliate) were riding momentum into the Finals after knocking off AHL juggernaut Toronto Marlies in the Conference Finals.
It was somewhat surprising to watch the Lake Erie Monsters dominate the way they did.
This speaks volumes to the depth of the Columbus Blue Jackets. That’s why it was so shocking to watch them struggle the way they did in 2015-16.
So many players deserve credit for the victory; players such as Sonny Milano, Markus Hannikainen, Josh Anderson, Zach Werenski, or Lukas Sedlak who could soon have an NHL impact.
Today, we want to take a closer at a pair of Blue Jackets prospects and how they could impact decisions made this summer.
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Oliver Bjorkstrand
For our regular readers out there, you know my stance on Oliver Bjorkstrand. We campaigned for him to make the team out of training camp, once again after Todd Richards was fired, and several more times throughout 2015-16.
He finally got a call-up late in the year, and finished the NHL season with a nice point streak. That hot play continued with the Lake Erie Monsters, posting 17 points en route to being named playoff MVP of the Calder Cup Playoffs.
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If you’re Jarmo Kekalainen, you too might be hesistant on presumed third overall pick Jesse Puljujarvi. Where exactly does he fit with Oliver Bjorkstrand, Nick Foligno, and Cam Atkinson already in the mix on the right side?
Bjorkstrand is a top-six talent who should be able to step in next Fall and produce at a decent rate in his first full year.
He might hit that rookie wall once or twice in 2016-17, but it’s part of the growing pain with prospects – had they called him up at the beginning on 2015-16 like they should have, the only worry right now would be a sophomore slump, but at least he would still be a year ahead in development.
Hopes are that his year with Lake Erie can help him avoid the typical rookie struggles when he steps in full-time with Columbus.
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Anton Forsberg
Heading into 2015-16, Forsberg sat third on the Blue Jackets depth chart, and was largely considered their top goaltending prospect. Given the struggles of Sergei Bobrovsky and Curtis McElhinney, both Anton Forsberg and Joonas Korpisalo saw time with the big club.
Forsberg went 1-3-0 with a 3.03GAA and .907 save percentage. Korpisalo fared better during his stint, going 16-11-2 with a 2.60GAA and .920 save percentage.
Anton Forsberg stepped up during the playoffs with a perfect 9-0 record. Korpisalo was 6-2 with a 2.96GAA and .898 save percentage, and eventually took a backseat to Anton.
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Decisions to Make
This begs to ask the question, “Who should assume backup duties in 2016-17?”.
Logic might dictate that Korpisalo steps in as no.2, while Anton Forsberg serves as starter for the Lake Erie Monsters serving as a depth netminder. The only risk in keeping the current scenario is a potential expansion looming.
So, who do you keep? Just because Joonas Korpisalo has the potential higher ceiling doesn’t necessarily mean that Anton Forsberg is the odd-man out.
There are factors to consider in the decision with Bobrovsky playing 50-60 games/year; Columbus’ backup only needs to step up in a limited role to give them a chance to win.
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If Jarmo believes Anton Forsberg can do that (which seems likely), the Blue Jackets can trade an asset with more value (Korpisalo). Instead of trading Forsberg for mediocre prospects or mid-round draft picks, perhaps it makes more sense to use Korpisalo’s 2015-16 campaign as leverage to add a higher quality prospect or draft pick?