08-04-2005, 12:07 PM
By IRA PODELL, AP Sports Writer
August 4, 2005
Peter Forsberg is back with the Philadelphia Flyers, with the hope he'll bring the championship they thought they'd win when he was traded away 13 years ago.
Forsberg was chosen No. 6 by Philadelphia in the 1991 NHL draft but became the centerpiece of the five-for-one deal a year later that landed him in Quebec and sent Eric Lindros to the Flyers.
Philadelphia lured Forsberg away from the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday with a two-year, $11.5 million contract.
Forsberg turned into the player the Flyers figured Lindros would be, winning two titles and one MVP award in Denver.
Philadelphia has gone 30 years since its last hockey championship.
``Peter Forsberg is one of the best players in the game,'' general manager Bob Clarke said.
It's no secret Clarke feels very differently about Lindros, who was traded to the New York Rangers four years ago after a messy breakup with the Flyers.
Forsberg was signed one day after Philadelphia inked free-agent defensemen Derian Hatcher (four years, $14 million), Mike Rathje (five years, $17.5 million), and Chris Therien (one year, $500,000).
The Flyers bought out forwards John LeClair and Tony Amonte after the new salary cap was set at $39 million, and now they appear set to deal forward Jeremy Roenick to Los Angeles to fit in Forsberg.
They weren't the only team active Wednesday when big names signed to stay, signed to leave, and got traded away.
Mike Modano broke off talks with Dallas early Wednesday, but decided to return to the Stars by the end of the day.
Two other captains from the Western Conference also aren't going anywhere.
The Vancouver Canucks re-signed leading scorer Markus Naslund, giving him a three-year contract worth $18 million.
When the free-agent list came out there was talk that Naslund and boyhood friend Forsberg were looking to go somewhere in a package deal, much like Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne did with Colorado in 2003.
But the lure of staying in Vancouver was enough to woo Naslund.
``It was really the only choice for me and my family,'' Naslund said Wednesday. ``We've had the best years of our lives here and I'm very happy to hopefully retire as a Canuck.''
Jarome Iginla had limited options as a restricted free agent, but he took himself out of the unrestricted picture for next summer by inking a three-year, $21-million deal to stay with the Calgary Flames.
The captain, who led the Flames to the 2004 Stanley Cup finals, signed a long-term deal instead of taking the $5.32 million qualifying offer he got from Calgary. That capped a fruitful two days for the Flames, who on Monday signed Amonte to a two-year, $3.7-million deal, and Darren McCarty to a two-year, $1.6-million contract.
``I truly believe a lot of players, when they're free agents, look at where they can have a legitimate chance to win,'' the 28-year-old Iginla said. ``And right now I'm just so excited. I believe this is the place and I can't wait to get playing.''
He will find plenty of good competition without even leaving the province of Alberta.
Years after Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier led them to Stanley Cup titles, the Edmonton Oilers are starting to look like contenders again.
Late Tuesday night, the Oilers acquired four-time All-Star defenseman Chris Pronger from the St. Louis Blues for defensemen Eric Brewer, Doug Lynch and Jeff Woywitka. They signed the former captain to a five-year deal worth $6.25 million per season.
That was just the start for the suddenly free-spending Oilers.
Edmonton general manager Kevin Lowe called New York Islanders counterpart Mike Milbury to rekindle trade talks that started at last weekend's draft. Milbury thought that deal was off once Pronger was signed, but he was mistaken.
The Oilers acquired another former captain, plucking Michael Peca away from the Islanders for forward Mike York and a conditional pick in next year's draft.
``It's never easy to trade anybody, tougher still when the person is your captain,'' Milbury said. ``That's compounded by the fact that Mike Peca, in large part, was responsible for restoring credibility to the New York Islanders franchise.''
At the 2001 draft, Milbury put a new face on the Islanders by bringing big-ticket forwards Peca and Alexei Yashin to Long Island. On the day he sent Peca packing, he also signed high-flying forward Miroslav Satan.
The left winger might be just the right guy to spark Yashin to play to the level that earned him his lucrative contract.
``This new look in general gives us balanced scoring throughout the lineup,'' Milbury said. ``We think that we're going to be tough to defend.''
Brian Leetch will be doing plenty of defending back on his home turf.
The longtime New York Rangers defenseman said goodbye to Toronto -- which barely got to know him -- and signed a one-year deal with the Boston Bruins for $4 million. Leetch was raised in Connecticut and played one year at Boston College before spending 17 seasons in New York.
His Maple Leafs career consisted of only 15 regular-season games and 13 more in the playoffs.
In other moves Wednesday:
-- The Montreal Canadiens re-signed former Alexei Kovalev to a four-year deal worth $4.5 million per season, and inked former Detroit forward-defenseman Mathieu Dandenault to a four-year contract that will pay him $6.9 million
-- The Columbus Blue Jackets signed defenseman Bryan Berard to a two-year deal worth $2.2 million per season. That came a day after Columbus signed Adam Foote for three years and $13.8 million.
-- Colorado signed center Pierre Turgeon and defenseman Patrice Brisebois to two-year contracts.
-- While waiting for word on Modano, Dallas signed defensemen Martin Skoula and Patrick Traverse and forwards Mathias Tjarnqvist and Vojtech Polak.
-- The Minnesota Wild signed forward Marc Chouinard and goaltender Manny Fernandez.
-- The New York Rangers brought back forward Martin Rucinsky for his third stint with the club, and re-signed restricted free agent defenseman Thomas Pock.
Across Pennsylvania on the western side, the Flyers' divisional rivals in Pittsburgh got a big defenseman of their own when the Penguins pried Sergei Gonchar away from the Bruins with a five-year, $25-million contract.
Pittsburgh already boasted an offense that features Mario Lemieux, Mark Recchi and No. 1 pick Sidney Crosby. Now they have someone to back them up and put fear into the rest of the Atlantic Division.
With the cap, teams like the Islanders, Flames, Oilers and Penguins can be buyers instead of sellers.
``I think it's tremendous,'' Milbury said. ``Everybody has got a chance under the cap to play this free-agent game. Big names have moved. Every city that has gone through this has to have a big buzz with it.''
August 4, 2005
Peter Forsberg is back with the Philadelphia Flyers, with the hope he'll bring the championship they thought they'd win when he was traded away 13 years ago.
Forsberg was chosen No. 6 by Philadelphia in the 1991 NHL draft but became the centerpiece of the five-for-one deal a year later that landed him in Quebec and sent Eric Lindros to the Flyers.
Philadelphia lured Forsberg away from the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday with a two-year, $11.5 million contract.
Forsberg turned into the player the Flyers figured Lindros would be, winning two titles and one MVP award in Denver.
Philadelphia has gone 30 years since its last hockey championship.
``Peter Forsberg is one of the best players in the game,'' general manager Bob Clarke said.
It's no secret Clarke feels very differently about Lindros, who was traded to the New York Rangers four years ago after a messy breakup with the Flyers.
Forsberg was signed one day after Philadelphia inked free-agent defensemen Derian Hatcher (four years, $14 million), Mike Rathje (five years, $17.5 million), and Chris Therien (one year, $500,000).
The Flyers bought out forwards John LeClair and Tony Amonte after the new salary cap was set at $39 million, and now they appear set to deal forward Jeremy Roenick to Los Angeles to fit in Forsberg.
They weren't the only team active Wednesday when big names signed to stay, signed to leave, and got traded away.
Mike Modano broke off talks with Dallas early Wednesday, but decided to return to the Stars by the end of the day.
Two other captains from the Western Conference also aren't going anywhere.
The Vancouver Canucks re-signed leading scorer Markus Naslund, giving him a three-year contract worth $18 million.
When the free-agent list came out there was talk that Naslund and boyhood friend Forsberg were looking to go somewhere in a package deal, much like Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne did with Colorado in 2003.
But the lure of staying in Vancouver was enough to woo Naslund.
``It was really the only choice for me and my family,'' Naslund said Wednesday. ``We've had the best years of our lives here and I'm very happy to hopefully retire as a Canuck.''
Jarome Iginla had limited options as a restricted free agent, but he took himself out of the unrestricted picture for next summer by inking a three-year, $21-million deal to stay with the Calgary Flames.
The captain, who led the Flames to the 2004 Stanley Cup finals, signed a long-term deal instead of taking the $5.32 million qualifying offer he got from Calgary. That capped a fruitful two days for the Flames, who on Monday signed Amonte to a two-year, $3.7-million deal, and Darren McCarty to a two-year, $1.6-million contract.
``I truly believe a lot of players, when they're free agents, look at where they can have a legitimate chance to win,'' the 28-year-old Iginla said. ``And right now I'm just so excited. I believe this is the place and I can't wait to get playing.''
He will find plenty of good competition without even leaving the province of Alberta.
Years after Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier led them to Stanley Cup titles, the Edmonton Oilers are starting to look like contenders again.
Late Tuesday night, the Oilers acquired four-time All-Star defenseman Chris Pronger from the St. Louis Blues for defensemen Eric Brewer, Doug Lynch and Jeff Woywitka. They signed the former captain to a five-year deal worth $6.25 million per season.
That was just the start for the suddenly free-spending Oilers.
Edmonton general manager Kevin Lowe called New York Islanders counterpart Mike Milbury to rekindle trade talks that started at last weekend's draft. Milbury thought that deal was off once Pronger was signed, but he was mistaken.
The Oilers acquired another former captain, plucking Michael Peca away from the Islanders for forward Mike York and a conditional pick in next year's draft.
``It's never easy to trade anybody, tougher still when the person is your captain,'' Milbury said. ``That's compounded by the fact that Mike Peca, in large part, was responsible for restoring credibility to the New York Islanders franchise.''
At the 2001 draft, Milbury put a new face on the Islanders by bringing big-ticket forwards Peca and Alexei Yashin to Long Island. On the day he sent Peca packing, he also signed high-flying forward Miroslav Satan.
The left winger might be just the right guy to spark Yashin to play to the level that earned him his lucrative contract.
``This new look in general gives us balanced scoring throughout the lineup,'' Milbury said. ``We think that we're going to be tough to defend.''
Brian Leetch will be doing plenty of defending back on his home turf.
The longtime New York Rangers defenseman said goodbye to Toronto -- which barely got to know him -- and signed a one-year deal with the Boston Bruins for $4 million. Leetch was raised in Connecticut and played one year at Boston College before spending 17 seasons in New York.
His Maple Leafs career consisted of only 15 regular-season games and 13 more in the playoffs.
In other moves Wednesday:
-- The Montreal Canadiens re-signed former Alexei Kovalev to a four-year deal worth $4.5 million per season, and inked former Detroit forward-defenseman Mathieu Dandenault to a four-year contract that will pay him $6.9 million
-- The Columbus Blue Jackets signed defenseman Bryan Berard to a two-year deal worth $2.2 million per season. That came a day after Columbus signed Adam Foote for three years and $13.8 million.
-- Colorado signed center Pierre Turgeon and defenseman Patrice Brisebois to two-year contracts.
-- While waiting for word on Modano, Dallas signed defensemen Martin Skoula and Patrick Traverse and forwards Mathias Tjarnqvist and Vojtech Polak.
-- The Minnesota Wild signed forward Marc Chouinard and goaltender Manny Fernandez.
-- The New York Rangers brought back forward Martin Rucinsky for his third stint with the club, and re-signed restricted free agent defenseman Thomas Pock.
Across Pennsylvania on the western side, the Flyers' divisional rivals in Pittsburgh got a big defenseman of their own when the Penguins pried Sergei Gonchar away from the Bruins with a five-year, $25-million contract.
Pittsburgh already boasted an offense that features Mario Lemieux, Mark Recchi and No. 1 pick Sidney Crosby. Now they have someone to back them up and put fear into the rest of the Atlantic Division.
With the cap, teams like the Islanders, Flames, Oilers and Penguins can be buyers instead of sellers.
``I think it's tremendous,'' Milbury said. ``Everybody has got a chance under the cap to play this free-agent game. Big names have moved. Every city that has gone through this has to have a big buzz with it.''