The Philadelphia Flyers added a big piece in their quest for their first Stanley Cup since 1975 when they signed forward Peter Forsberg to a two-year, $11.5 million contract. Many hockey experts consider the Swedish-born Forsberg to be the best overall player in hockey.
The signing of Forsberg along with the recent additions of defensemen Derian Hatcher and Mike Rathje place the Flyers over the salary cap limit. As a result, some players will have to be moved. The likely candidate: Jeremy Roenick. The likely destination: Los Angeles.
'Philly has a great chance to win the Stanley Cup this year, and I love this town and it's a killer to leave, but I would never stand in the way of a trade for the number one talent in the game, and that's Peter Forsberg,' Roenick said.
Roenick waived the no-trade clause in his contract and requested to be traded to a west coast team.
Forsberg actually started his NHL career as a member of the Flyers before being traded to the Quebec Nordiques in the blockbuster deal that brought Eric Lindros to Philadelphia. The Nordiques later moved to Colorado and became the Avalanche. Forsberg helped lead them to two Stanley Cup victories.
In 580 career NHL games, Forsberg has scored 741 points. He has won the Hart Trophy as the league's most valuable player and the Art Ross Trophy for leading the league in scoring.
Flyers general manager Bob Clarke was thrilled to land Forsberg.
'Peter Forsberg is one of the best players in the game,' Clarke told the 'Philadelphia Inquirer.'
Don Baizley, Forsberg's agent told reporters, 'In the end, Peter chose Philadelphia. It was his decision. They got on the radar late, to be honest. But Bob Clarke got aggressive about it, and got really serious about it [yesterday] morning.'
Forsberg was also pleased with his new deal and his new team. 'It was hard to leave Colorado,' Forsberg admitted to the Swedish paper, 'Aftonbladet.' 'But there was no other solution, and I'm satisfied with how things turned out. I didn't want to play on a team from the Western Conference and have to face Colorado too often.'
Flyers fans are just hoping Forsberg can stay healthy and lead the team to their first Stanley Cup in 31 years.
