Forsberg to Nashville

TSN.ca is reporting that the Philadelphia Flyers have dealt center Peter Forsberg to the Nashville Predators for two players and two draft picks.

The report states that Nashville will send right wing Scottie Upshall, defenseman Ryan Parent and a first-round and a third-round draft pick to Philadelphia.

Forsberg skated with the team in practice Thursday in preparation for a home game against Toronto, but was listed as a healthy scratch just before the start.

Forsberg will now join the top team in the NHL after battling injuries all season. He had a procedure done on his right foot this past May and also had two bursas removed. He was originally scheduled to have surgery on both his feet, but learned surgery on his left foot was not necessary. Forsberg returned in time to appear in the Flyers starting lineup for their first game of the season, but has missed 16 game since.

The 33-year-old Swede has appeared in 40 games this season and has 11 goals and 29 assists. In 680 games over 11 seasons, nine of them with Quebec/Colorado, he has 246 goals and 610 assists.

The Phanatic Magazine's take:

Eric Redner: We knew this was going to happen sometime soon and while the Flyers could have held out a bit longer to see what other deals would have been offered, I believe they got a pretty good deal.

The key to this trade is Parent. In 60 games last year with the Guelph Storm of the Ontario Hockey League, he posted four goals and 17 assists with 122 penalty minutes. He has been injury plagued this season as he has missed 23 of the team's 55 games due to injuries and international play and is currently sidelined with a bulging disk in his back. The first round pick (18th overall) by Nashville in 2005, he is 6-foot-2 and currently listed at 183 pounds, but he will turn 20 on March 17 and if he can bulk up he could be a big presence on the blue line for the Flyers. He was the captain of the 2005 Canadian team that won the silver medal at the U-18 world championships and a gold medallist for Team Canada at the 2006 world juniors this winter so it seems that he has some leadership skills.

Upshall, 23, was selected by Nashville in the first round (sixth overall) of the 2002 draft. He as only appeared in 14 games this season because of a groin injury. He has spent his career between the NHL and the AHL and has only appeared in 77 games in the NHL over four seasons and has recorded 11 goals and 18 assists. He can be a third line or possibly second line player, but was limited to a lot of fourth line time, when he was in the NHL, thanks to being on a deep Predators team. In 23 games with Nashville's AHL affiliate in Milwaukee, he has 17 goals and 16 assists. He will get more playing time with the Flyers than he did in Nashville, which will give him the minutes he needs to garner more experience and hopefully bring his play to a higher level.

The picks, while depending on where Nashville finishes, will not be very high and it is not a very deep draft. But, the Flyers will be able to stock up on some prospects and hopefully get some quality players out of the deal.

It is still up in the air what will happen to Forsberg, whose contract expires at the end of the season, at the conclusion of the campaign. If he is healthy and wants to come back to Philly it would be a smart move on the Flyers part to get him back, so long as it is for a fair price.

As far as Nashville goes, the rest of the Western Conference better watch out. If Forsberg can stay healthy, this team will score a ton of goals and will be very tough to stop in the playoffs. The smart thing for the Predators to do would be to limit Forsberg's ice time for the remainder of the season and keep him fresh for the playoffs.