I never said that his season overall has been good. But he did improve significantly over the season and he did manage to hold onto the top6 spot he was handed at the trade deadline. He was a top6 forward from then on, including playoffs. He was mostly on the top line (plus special teams) and he had an impact. What a couple of internet fans want is completely irrelevant. Forget will have to justify his spot next season but you don't usually get demoted from the topline to the bottom six over the summer for no good reason. The way it usually works is that it's the rookies having to earn ice time from the more senior players.
Here is the situation in Shawinigan.
Lacerte will continue to be the go-to guy with PPG player Vince Elie and newly acquired 20 year old PPG player Louis-Philippe Fontaine.
Then, you have their 2023 1st rounder Cole Chandler who got injured but still produced as much as Forget in the season despite only playing 25 games. They just picked Chad Lygitsakos with the 3rd overall pick and he will definitely play in that top 9, even top 6.
They still have Klima as a Euro who played top 6 and PP all year and produced significantly more than Forget.
Then, you have other 20 year old forward Bonefon who will lock in a top 9 spot with his grit and two-way ability.
They are supposedly acquiring Gridin from Val d'Or in the coming weeks, so that's an 8th top 9 spot guaranteed there.
Then, you have 2023 2nd rounder Reece Peitzsche who scored 25 points who should be ahead as well. That's 9 guys.
Then you add two-way center Kody Dupuis, son of Pascal who is coaching, who will want to continue playing in the top 9, he centered in the top 6 most of the year last season.
Then, you still have Natan Ethier who scored 34 points last season and will be 19 this year.
That's 11 forwards clearly ahead of Forget to start the year in Shawinigan for me.
So, to me, he's almost fighting for a spot in the starting line-up at this point, his chances of playing in the top 6 are at about 0% unless there's a pile of injuries.
Nothing against Forget, but Shawinigan is heading into the season with one of the top 5 deepest offensive groups in the Q. Their line-up will be significantly stronger than last season when Forget played bottom 6 until he got some chances in the top 9 due to injuries.