This week both Peter Forsberg and Evgeni Nabokov expressed interest in rejoining the NHL. Forsberg is going to start practicing with the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday and Nabokov is in the process of signing with the Detroit Red Wings just a year after he was cast off as a playoff failure by the San Jose Sharks.
The almost 40 year old Forsberg was one of the league’s best players in the late 90s and early 2000s. He was the rookie of the year in 1995 and in 2003 he was the league’s most valuable player. Forsberg won two Stanley Cups in 1996 and 2001 both with the Colorado Avalanche. He has played in 706 total NHL games with 249 goals and 636 assists for a total of 885 points. He also recorded an impressive +242 rating in 13 NHL seasons not including 2002 where he missed the entire season due to injury. He never had a season with a minus rating even when his team didn’t make the playoffs. Forsberg was an amazing play maker with incredible skills. Forsberg was also an incredible force in the playoffs scoring 64 goals and 107 assists for 171 points and a +54 rating in 161 games. He played his seasons with the Nordiques, Avalanche, Flyers, and Predators. Unfortunately, he has not had a lot of action lately due to his recurring foot and ankle injuries, but before that he was one of the league’s top players.
Like Forsberg, Evgeni Nabokov was the rookie of the year in 2001 and a Vezina finalist in 2008. Nabokov has always been a great goalie during the regular season with 293 wins, 50 shutouts, a 2.39 goals against average, and .912 save percentage in 563 games. Nabokov amassed 3 40 win seasons in a row from 2008-2010. Although his goals against average was 2.29 and his saver percentage was .914, in the playoffs he has always been marked as a poor playoff performer.
He has 40 wins in 80 playoff games, but never seemed to make it far into the playoffs with very strong teams, including the President trophy winning Sharks of 2009 that lost in the first round. In 2010 he did make it to the third round, but the Sharks gave up on him because he couldn’t make it to the finals after 9 playoff opportunities. The Red Wings are interested in Nabokov because of recent goaltending injuries to Jimmy Howard and Chris Osgood forcing them to call upon Joey McDonald, who was less than impressive in his brief appearance this season.
These two potential acquisitions are very questionable, but both teams have nothing to lose other than a small salary for the rest of the season. Does Peter Forsberg have chance of coming back and being a strong contributor for the Avalanche? Can the Red Wings turn around Nabokov’s awful playoff reputation?
Let us know what you think!
