From The Files Of Criminal Robbery: Case #27- Filip Forsberg
By Jeff Henning
Revisiting The Filip Forsberg Trade
It’s the 2013 NHL trade deadline. Things are at their chaotic peak as the league is only playing a condensed 48 game regular season due to the lockout. General Managers are probably a little more fluid to making deals, given they could get their borderline playoff team into the postseason or make their playoff team a real Stanley Cup contender. Or, perhaps this sudden tilt in normalcy would scare NHL GMs from making any big deals. At this deadline, names like Marian Gaborik and Jason Pominville were some names that many insiders expected to be moved. In what will become an ongoing epidemic, we’re going to re-open one of the most asinine trades to ever go down at the NHL’s deadline frenzy.
The flip of a coin. Perhaps that big Eisenhower dollar coin your grandfather gave you and told you never to spend. Maybe it’s just a loose Iowa state quarter you’ve had floating around in your pocket for weeks. Either choice will suffice so long as it comes with the inevitable choice of heads or tails. Of all the reasons I’ve thought of for why the Washington Capitals traded winger Filip Forsberg to the Nashville Predators at the 2013 deadline, this is the one that makes the most sense. Former Capitals GM George McPhee must’ve been so old school that he flipped a coin on whether or not he would trade Filip.
All you have to do is listen to the various analysts speaking on the potential and skill level of Filip Forsberg. Maybe if McPhee hadn’t DVR’d that season of Game Of Thrones over this draft reaction and analysis, it might’ve saved Forsberg from what was going to become his ultimate destiny.
Although Forsberg was the Capitals most recent 1st round draft pick (11th overall in 2012 NHL Draft) his marriage with the Washington Capitals was to be short lived as McPhee had his eye fixed on aging winger Martin Erat. Through 36 games with the Predators that season, Erat managed to score 4 goals and 17 assists, while also posting a (-7) rating. To this point, Erat was a consistent 50 point scorer. In the six seasons prior to his trade, Erat never scored lower than 49 points but never more than 58.
Those numbers were evidently gaudy enough that McPhee saw no point in keeping around his newest prized gem. It was the last official deal of the 2013 deadline and Forsberg was sent to Nashville in return for Erat and Michael Latta. Erat would go on to play in 9 games for the Capitals in that shortened season, scoring just a single goal and two assists. The Capitals were eliminated from the playoffs by the New York Rangers later that spring, with Erat registering no points in 4 playoff games.
That was just a taste of what was to come in the lifespan of this head- scratching deal. The next season Forsberg, still only 19 years old, would only see 13 NHL games while Erat was a shell of his former self in Washington. Erat would play 53 games for the Capitals that season, scoring just 24 points before being traded to the Arizona Coyotes, which would signify the beginning of the legacy of this truly horrendous trade. After the 2013-2014 league year, George McPhee would be fired after the Capitals failed to make the postseason for the first time since 2007. Then, last season and the final season in our trilogy here, Forsberg exploded onto the scene. He was one of the most electric rookies in a year that seemed to be dominated by great young talent. Forsberg scored 26 goals and 63 points while not missing a game in his first full season.
Make no mistake, most of the recent Stanley Cup winning teams have made valuable additions at the trade deadline. Moves that put teams like the Los Angeles Kings or the Chicago Blackhawks over the top. Sometimes however, General Managers make awful decisions that change entire landscapes of teams and can ultimately play a part in their lost job status. It’s these most lopsided trades that transcend logic and comprehension and find themselves locked away in the files of criminal robbery.