Forsberg to return to NHL with Colorado

[faba]

Forsberg reunites with Avs for rest of season

Associated Press

Updated: February 25, 2008, 6:29 PM ET

• Comment
  
• Email
  
• Print

DENVER -- The Avalanche and Peter Forsberg have agreed on a deal to bring the NHL's 2003 MVP back to Colorado through the end of the season.

Melrose's analysis

Bringing back Peter Forsberg is great news for the Colorado Avalanche. It gets a splash in the newspapers and on the Internet and gives a team that's on the outside looking in a big boost.

Now, it all depends on which Forsberg we see out there. Don't expect to see the Forsberg of old, especially considering he's seen no game action this season. We'll see more of the Foppa we saw in 2006-07 with the Flyers and Avalanche; he played 57 games, 40 with Philly before he was dealt to Nashville before the trade deadline. He still battled injuries and was still a shadow of his former self. That will be the unavoidable question going forward.

Having said that, if Forsberg can play at least at the same level as he did last season (he did have 55 points in those 57 games), that will make Colorado better than it was a week ago. With Joe Sakic, Paul Stastny and Ryan Smyth getting healthy, coach Joel Quennevill will experiment with his lines over the next 19 games as the Avs battle for a playoff spot.

I'd like to see Sakic, Forsberg and Milan Hejduk together on the top line, then see Stastny and Smyth together on the second line. That's a start, but there will be mixing and matching until Quenneville sees combinations he's comfortable with. Either way, time is short. Colorado is 10th in the West, just four points out of the last playoff spot. The Avs will hope Forsberg is the factor that pushes them into the postseason.

-- Barry Melrose

Forsberg will earn about $1.1 million prorated from a one-year, $5 million deal, since there are about six weeks left in the regular season.

Forsberg won two Stanley Cups in his nine seasons with the Avalanche and won the Hart Trophy in 2003 after scoring 29 goals and adding 77 assists.

But foot and ankle injuries have plagued him in recent years.

Until Monday's announcement, it appeared Forsberg wouldn't return to an NHL team this season. His agent, Don Baizley, informed teams last week that Forsberg didn't have enough confidence in the strength of his surgically repaired right foot to play.

The Avalanche were one of a handful of teams vying for Forsberg's services. Philadelphia, Minnesota, Chicago and Ottawa were also believed to be in the hunt.

Forsberg spent 1