Speculation: What to do with Forsberg?

[Scoresberg]

I think it's time to let the cat out of the bag.

Forsberg is once again injured and the team is rolling without him. Committing to him on a long-term deal might be risky given the contract structure of the team and his injury history.

The teams I have seen that would be interested are at least Toronto, Edmonton, Los Angeles and New Jersey. The offer obviously starts with a 1st and a high-end prospect, as we could also retain some salary.

So now, I am asking YOU what would you want to do with Forsberg?

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[triggrman]

With his injury history, I don't know that I'd offer him 8M a season. I think more in the 7 range. If he won't sign that, I'd shop him. Love him as a player but his body doesn't seem to like the game he plays.

 

[Armourboy]

At this stage I'd trade him. I think he still has production in him but I think if you sign him long term 2 years in you are trying to move him like Ellis.

I'd rather not trade him but I'm not giving him 8 X 8 either.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

I'm not ready to vote yet. I thought 8x8ish was already kind of a "desperate/can't afford to lose him" threshold, so the first two options are definitely out for me, though. I'd offer him like maybe 4-5 yrs at $6Mish at this point. (And perhaps in a way, that kind of forces one of the later options... although I'd still give FF9 a chance to Buy In with a discount contract here).

I'm guessing I'll probably eventually land in the "trade him for a decent haul" ballpark, assuming that equates to a late 1st round pick + good prospect.

But it's still just 15 games into the season, and the trade deadline is March 21st, with something like 50 more games to play until then. So I don't feel like I'm in any big rush to make a Final Decision.

The option that truly does scare me is that last one, though. Poile has been slam-dunking almost all his decisions lately, so I hope he doesn't break that streak. But keeping Forsberg around for our own "playoff run" this year, and then losing him for nothing as a free agent would seem somewhat of a Poileish decision. And assuming we aren't really going to go on much of a "playoff run", at least... that would probably turn out poorly. Although if we did keep him and we won a couple playoff rounds with FF9 playing an integral role... then I probably couldn't argue too strenuously against the decision in hindsight.

 

[Flgatorguy87]

Can we over pay for 4 years? I just don't like giving him anything longer than that.

 

[Armourboy]

I'm not ready to vote yet. I thought 8x8ish was already kind of a "desperate/can't afford to lose him" threshold, so the first two options are definitely out for me, though. I'd offer him like maybe 4-5 yrs at $6Mish at this point. (And perhaps in a way, that kind of forces one of the later options... although I'd still give FF9 a chance to Buy In with a discount contract here).

I'm guessing I'll probably eventually land in the "trade him for a decent haul" ballpark, assuming that equates to a late 1st round pick + good prospect.

But it's still just 15 games into the season, and the trade deadline is March 21st, with something like 50 more games to play until then. So I don't feel like I'm in any big rush to make a Final Decision.

The option that truly does scare me is that last one, though. Poile has been slam-dunking almost all his decisions lately, so I hope he doesn't break that streak. But keeping Forsberg around for our own "playoff run" this year, and then losing him for nothing as a free agent would seem somewhat of a Poileish decision. And assuming we aren't really going to go on much of a "playoff run", at least... that would probably turn out poorly. Although if we did keep him and we won a couple playoff rounds with FF9 playing an integral role... then I probably couldn't argue too strenuously against the decision in hindsight.

I don't think he will go that route with Forsberg. Don't know why really but I think he will look to see if he can't do another Erat trade or maybe the opposite of the Granlund/Fiala trade where we try and get the younger guy.

 

[jumb0]

I pretty much agree with what everyone else has said so far. Want to wait closer to deadline to make a decision.

We are rolling right now without him, when he comes back do we get even better or does he disrupt the chemistry this team has found in the past weeks?
I think we can officially call him injury prone so maybe it's best to move on?
What does he want in a long term deal? I don't think I want to commit 8x8 to him. If 8 is the number then can we get that at 4 years instead? Or can we get him in the 6.5-7 range if it's longer term?

 

[Pr0fet]

I think Forsberg should hold the value to land us atleast bonafide top 6 prospect. I dont think we should have to settle for a hit or miss kind of propspect (ie Glass). The teams that will be interested in him will probably be either contenders or on the brink of getting into contention and I would rather build a potential trade around a good prospect than around a low 1st round pick.

I wouldnt be opposed to keeping him either as I really like him as a player when he's healthy. Dont want to leave the decision to February though. Dont want us to get into the playoffs without him signed and risk losing him for nothing.

 

[Bringer of Jollity]

Lot of variables in play on this one. We are playing well without him, but is that a coincidence with certain guys heating up at the same time or is there a fit issue (similar to what we saw with Ellis and Arvy) where we can better employ our system/play style without him. Among other things, it blows my mind that at 27 the guy is still far too enamored with his stick-handling ability and regularly turns the puck over into dangerous chances for the other team. I think he can be very successful in this set-up, but does he buy-in?

Then there's the contract, I wouldn't want to go above $7M for 4-5 years, which seems like an obvious no-go from the Forsberg side, but I don't think he's worth $8M+ money (even if we have two guys on our team making that who also aren't worth that) and the injury history and inconsistency of his performance (not production) make me hesitant to go 7-8 years.

From a roster building perspective, keeping Forsberg long-term while already being committed to Johansen, Duchene, Granlund has the potential for a VERY static top 6/core forward group, which I think is fine if you have an elite group of forwards but this is not that type of group. I think we got into trouble the last 5 years or so with having a pretty static, comfortable group of players and with so many younger players knocking on the door for play time (and we've seen the potential of getting a Jeannot, Tomasino, Tolvanen, etc... into bigger minutes with the more talented players), clogging up the roster with another very long-term contract may not be the best play.

Then you have to factor in what we're getting back. I'd have to think there'd be a big market for Forsberg and the chances of getting a high-talent forward prospect and a 1st should be pretty high. If we can't get that, I think you re-evaluate a bit. If the value of the return is definitely not going to replace his production at some point in time, it may be better to just keep him.

 

[FossilFndr]

Hate to lose him but it's like Arvy after the Bortuzzo cross check into the goal; Arvy had been declining after all the abuse he got on his body and then Bortuzzo laid the final blow. Filip seems similar to me, not sure his body will hold up for a long term contract.

 

[bdub24]

Like Teddy KGB says: Pay him. Pay that man his money.

Still young, still producing. More worried about Josi’s injury history than I am Forsbergs.

 

[jumb0]

Like Teddy KGB says: Pay him. Pay that man his money.

Worst accent ever?

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

I don't think he will go that route with Forsberg. Don't know why really but I think he will look to see if he can't do another Erat trade or maybe the opposite of the Granlund/Fiala trade where we try and get the younger guy.

I dunno, I think Poile would love to Win, and... if for some reason our team did just keep rolling along, and maybe finish even "comfortably" in a playoff spot as opposed to battling for the last Wild Card right down to the wire... I mean, I could see him writing off that kind of trade return as basically the price of just keeping FF9 as our own version of a playoff rental.

The catch is, can our team really be THAT good this year? Most of us assume not. But if for any reason any of this recent stuff turns out to be sustainable... I mean... I could definitely see Poile just keeping Forsberg as an own-rental. Still a long way to go before we know if the team can possibly be that good, of course.

But I'd also suggest that if we are THAT good this year, and we do keep Forsberg, and we do happen to win a couple playoff rounds... well... I also would not necessarily think Poile would have been wrong to have kept him. I assume that's not a popular position to take here. But I can see the value of "going for it" if by any chance we somehow end up within some sort of sniffing range of success. Our narrative here is that we're a "building" team that may or may not make the playoffs, and probably can't possibly win a playoff round. But if that narrative changed... I mean, we've seen so many cases of narratives changing on team and individual player bases recently that I am going to keep an open mind for a little while longer on this one.

 

[PredsV82]

If he will sign now for 7x7 or less I'd keep him. If he is unsigned and we are out of the playoffs, trade him at the deadline.

If hes unsigned and we are in the playoffs, keep him.

 

[Predsanddead24]

The bright side on a long term Forsberg contract is that the later years where you expect him to fall off would be after Duchene, Johansen, and Granlund's contracts are over. In either case I think as others have said you wait and see where we are sitting at the trade deadline before you make any decision. I can convince myself of any choice at this point really so I'd like to see if we can keep up our great play for a couple more months or see if this is just a hot streak.

 

[herzausstein]

Max retain to open up more teams to the market and get the best haul possible.

 

[AintLifeGrand]

it do be that time where we need to trade dat boy.

 

[AintLifeGrand]

wonder if we could trade him + ?? for Pujluiarvary

If he will sign now for 7x7 or less I'd keep him. If he is unsigned and we are out of the playoffs, trade him at the deadline.

If hes unsigned and we are in the playoffs, keep him.

Boy you aint thinkin right.

This aint a cup winnin team; Spring hockey should be a nice treat for the boys until the golf course gets in that nice late spring conditions.

Listen here , that Swedish fella needs to get out

 

[Bringer of Jollity]

wonder if we could trade him + ?? for Pujluiarvary


Boy you aint thinkin right.

This aint a cup winnin team; Spring hockey should be a nice treat for the boys until the golf course gets in that nice late spring conditions.

Listen here , that Swedish fella needs to get out

Doesn't matter. We know this org and Poile and if Forsberg is not signed by the deadline, but we are in a playoff spot, it is unlikely we'll trade him, "cup winnin team" or no.

 

[PredsV82]

wonder if we could trade him + ?? for Pujluiarvary


Boy you aint thinkin right.

This aint a cup winnin team; Spring hockey should be a nice treat for the boys until the golf course gets in that nice late spring conditions.

Listen here , that Swedish fella needs to get out

Yeah yeah you are the biggest "we suck dump everbody" crank on here. The fact is you NEVER know what happens once you make the playoffs. 2 times in the last 5 years the lowest seed has made the Cup finals(one of which of course was US). So you'll pardon me if I ignore your sage advice.

 

[Scoresberg]

L
From a roster building perspective, keeping Forsberg long-term while already being committed to Johansen, Duchene, Granlund has the potential for a VERY static top 6/core forward group, which I think is fine if you have an elite group of forwards but this is not that type of group.

This is an interesting point. If we were to sign Forsberg to an 8-year deal, we would certainly be set in the top-six with basically four spots locked in.

BUT, when Filip's contract were to kick in, Joey's and Granny's deals only run for three more years, and I don't see us having a problem with the cap in those three years, which makes it a bit more doable.

With the new core, there aren't any big deals on sight at least not as of now. Granny's $5 mil should in a couple of years be a deal that you can have as a bottom-sixer.

 

[Scoresberg]

I'm at a point where I would trade him if the return is something like Jarvis, Holloway etc. those types of prospects. But that is highly unlikely to happen, so I'm re-signing him now.

 

[NoNecksCurse]

Yeah yeah you are the biggest "we suck dump everbody" crank on here. The fact is you NEVER know what happens once you make the playoffs. 2 times in the last 5 years the lowest seed has made the Cup finals(one of which of course was US). So you'll pardon me if I ignore your sage advice.

he’s a braves fan like a lot of us and all braves fans should know the odds Vegas had for Atlanta winning the World Series after acuna got hurt. Didn’t matter, braves won it all.

make the playoffs and you never know. Simple as that.

 

[Bringer of Jollity]

This is an interesting point. If we were to sign Forsberg to an 8-year deal, we would certainly be set in the top-six with basically four spots locked in.

BUT, when Filip's contract were to kick in, Joey's and Granny's deals only run for three more years, and I don't see us having a problem with the cap in those three years, which makes it a bit more doable.

With the new core, there aren't any big deals on sight at least not as of now. Granny's $5 mil should in a couple of years be a deal that you can have as a bottom-sixer.

I'm less worried about the cap and more worried about having locked in roster spots for roles when we have more than a handful of players already pushing for time (and more will be soon enough).

 

[101st_fan]

I'm less worried about the cap and more worried about having locked in roster spots for roles when we have more than a handful of players already pushing for time (and more will be soon enough).

Remember that Ellis and Arvy were "locked in roster spots" this time last year. Extending a player doesn't mean that they won't get moved at some point in the future due to a change in situations.