By Chuck Gormley
KK Contributor
South Jersey Courier-Post
VOORHEES, NJ
Peter Forsberg will meet with Flyers chairman Ed Snider, probably on Sunday, to discuss both sides’ next step. Snider spent last week in California, as did his right hand man Peter Luukko, the Flyers’ new president.
Here’s what I think will happen:
Snider will open the meeting by asking how Forsberg’s foot is doing and stress how much the Flyers have done for him to make it better – cross-continental flights to see doctors, etc. – and hint that Forsberg owes the Flyers something after all he’s put them through.
Snider will also map out a plan on how the Flyers can go from worst to first in one or two short years by signing forwards like Daniel Briere, Chris Drury or Scott Gomez and defensemen Kimmo Timonen or Sheldon Souray.
Forsberg, whose two-year, $11.5 million contract expires on July 1, will nod his head a lot, then ask how much they are willing to pay him. Snider will say about $4 million a season.
My guess is that before Forsberg meets with Snider he will already know from Paul Holmgren which teams have shown an interest in acquiring him. Actually, I think Forbserg found that out when he and Holmgren met for about five minutes on Tuesday. Forsberg will want to take a few days to decide whether he wants to re-sign with Philly or provide a list of teams he would agree to play for down the stretch, but Snider will demand a “keep me” or “trade me” ultimatum.
Everyone is telling me they think Forsberg is too competitive to pass up the opportunity to play for his third Cup. And whoever gets him will be getting a player whose play is actually escalating. Forsberg seems to have found a solution to his skate problem and he has been dominant the past two weeks. And since there is no wear and tear from this season, he will actually get better as the season moves forward.
Forsberg’s a quirky guy and if he leaves Philly it will have to be to a team and a town he likes. His top four destinations would probably be, in order, Detroit (Lidstrom), Vancouver (Naslund), Anaheim and San Jose.
As for other Flyers on the trading block, Geoff Sanderson is now available. He was a healthy scratch in three straight games before getting back in the lineup Thursday night against the Penguins. Sanderson has one more year at $1.5 mill left on his deal. I keep hearing Carolina is interested in trading for him and they’ve thrown defenseman David Tanabe’s name around.
Mike York, who is in the final months of a $1.9 million deal, has been a disappointment for the Flyers since coming from the Islanders and they’ll send him somewhere for a draft low pick.
