Forsberg returning to Flyers (Tim P. article) [Archive]

swflyers25

8-03-05, 11:02 PM

Posted on Wed, Aug. 03, 2005

Forsberg returning to Flyers

By TIM PANACCIO

Philadelphia Inquirer

PHILADELPHIA - Peter Forsberg has come full circle. He is coming back to the Flyers.

The gifted Swede, who was drafted in 1991 by the Flyers and whose rights were traded to the Quebec Nordiques for the rights to Eric Lindros, is returning.

Wednesday night, the Flyers wrapped up a contract that will pay Forsberg about $6 million to play in Philadelphia this season.

Because their payroll was already above $36 million, the club needs to make a couple of trades to get back under the $39 million salary cap.

The first trade likely will send center Jeremy Roenick to the Los Angeles Kings or Phoenix Coyotes. That would free up $4.94 million in salary.

"Philly has a great chance to win the Stanley Cup this year and I love this town, and it's a killer to leave," Roenick said. "But I would never stand in the way of a trade for the No. 1 talent in the game, and that's Peter Forsberg."

The 32-year-old Forsberg has been one of the great centers in the league since his arrival from his Swedish club, Modo, in 1994. He is a former Hart Trophy winner as league MVP and former Art Ross Trophy winner as the leading scorer, both coming in 2002-03 when he scored 106 points for the Colorado Avalanche.

He has two Stanley Cups to his credit, which is two more than the Flyers won with Lindros. The original Lindros deal included five players, two draft picks, and $15 million in cash.

Forsberg's deal is worth $10.7 million for two years.

Roenick waived his no-trade clause.

"It would be selfish of me to keep a player like Forsberg from coming to Philly," Roenick said. "I told that to (general manager) Bob Clarke this morning. At least I am going west where I will be closer to my family."

JR, you will always be a Flyer for life.

Inky (http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/sports/hockey/nhl/12296660.htm)

swflyers25

8-03-05, 11:11 PM

http://philadelphia.comcastsportsnet.com/images/content/flyers/080305-forsberg.jpg

If the Flyers were already poised to make a run at the Stanley Cup when the NHL season resumes this Fall, the team just added some reinforcements. Big time. In a shocking announcement, the Flyers signed 2003 Hart Trophy winner Peter Forsberg away from the Colorado Avalanche with a two-year, $10.7 million pact. Because the deal will put the Flyers over the brand-new salary cap, the team is expected to make a trade to get back under the cap. Meanwhile, Forsberg returns to the club that drafted him in 1991 but shipped him to Quebec in the famous deal for Eric Lindros a year later. In that regard, Forsberg is returning to his hockey home.

Flyers Sign Forsberg to Two-Year Deal

The Associated Press

Peter Forsberg will finally play for the Philadelphia Flyers, who signed the former NHL MVP on Wednesday to a two-year contract.

The Flyers originally drafted Forsberg in 1991 but dealt him to Quebec in the Eric Lindros trade in 1992. Since then, Forsberg has become a seven-time All-Star and the league's most valuable player with the Colorado Avalanche in 2003.

"Peter Forsberg is one of the best players in the game,'' general manager Bob Clarke said in a statement. "We signed him knowing that he puts us over the cap and we will have to trade some guys now.''

The Flyers scheduled a Thursday morning news conference at their practice facility in New Jersey.

No terms were announced, though the Avalanche say they offered him the maximum they could afford, $13.5 million over four years.

"He had the offer and he chose to go to Philly,'' Colorado spokesman Damen Zier.

Forsberg helped the Avalanche win the Stanley Cup in 1996 and 2001, though injuries limited him to 39 games in 2003-04. Last year, he played for the Swedish Elite League.

When he's healthy, Forsberg can do it all. In fact, he became the type of dominant all-around player that Philadelphia hoped Lindros would become.

The move comes a day after the Flyers bulked up their defense by signing hulking blueliners Derian Hatcher, Mike Rathje and Chris Therien to free-agent contracts.

The Flyers had already created more room under the salary cap by buying out the contracts of veteran forwards John LeClair and Tony Amonte.

Forsberg was originally drafted sixth overall by the Flyers, but his rights were traded a year later with Steve Duchesne, Kerry Huffman, Ron Hextall, Mike Ricci, Chris Simon, two draft picks and cash to Quebec for Lindros.

To make room for Forsberg's salary under the cap, the Flyers were reportedly set to trade center Jeremy Roenick to the Los Angeles Kings. Roenick told Philadelphia sports radio station WIP he was expecting to be traded, though a Flyers spokesman said there was no deal to announce.

"The Flyers have a better chance of winning the Stanley Cup with Peter Forsberg than with Jeremy Roenick,'' Roenick told WIP.

Forsberg made his NHL debut and was the rookie of the year with Quebec in 1994-95 before becoming an All-Star with the franchise when it moved to Colorado.

Forsberg scored 21 points in 22 playoff games when the Colorado won its first Stanley Cup.

This was the second major defection for Colorado this week. Adam Foote, a defensive cornerstone of two championship teams, signed a three-year contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday.

While losing Forsberg and Foote chipped away at one of the best franchises in the league, the Flyers have shown they expect to make a serious run for the championship this year. Last season's lockout came at a tough time for the Flyers, who went 40-21-15 for 101 points and won the Atlantic Division in 2003-04. Their playoff run ended with a loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals.

It was the 29th straight season that ended without a championship for the Flyers.

Forsberg is known as Sweden's "Magic Boy'' and is the first hockey player to appear on a Swedish postage stamp. He was a 1994 Olympic gold medalist and scored the winning goal in a shootout against Canada.

E-mail Dan Gelston

Comcast (http://philadelphia.comcastsportsnet.com/view_content_1p.asp?ID=13077)