Colorado Avalanche Peter Forsberg part 3?

As the calendar heads toward the holidays, many Colorado Avalanche fans are wondering if Santa will bring their team a gift….the return of Peter Forsberg.
At this time, there is very little concrete information available. The facts are this: Forsberg is listed on the Swedish National team’s roster of potential players for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. He is currently playing for Sweden in the Karjala Cup tournament. Because he has not played a game in any European league this season, he can sign with any NHL team at any time.
There is no doubt that Forsberg, when healthy, was one of the top players in the game. He won 2 Stanley Cups with Colorado and is on the famous Swedish postage stamp with the shoot out goal that won the Olympics . He was a dominating two-way player that won the NHL’s MVP, leading scorer and best plus-minus awards, among other honors.
The main issue with signing Forsberg is his injury history. He played 60 games for Philadelphia in 2005-06, a combined 57 games in 06-07 with the Flyers and Nashville, but only 9 games for Colorado in 07-08 and none last year. The foot injury he suffered is chronic. Peter has tried countless surgeries, equipment adjustments and everything else this side of voodoo, only to find any relief short-lived.
There are reasons that Forsberg might want to return to Colorado. He maintains a home in Denver and was here in October attending Joe Sakic’s Retirement Ceremony. And despite leaving to sign with Philly under less than ideal conditions, Forsberg is close to Avalanche President Pierre LaCroix, He remains very popular in Denver, and his presence would sell tickets, something the Avs desperately need.
The Avalanche organization has been typically mum about the situation. In past seasons, they quietly kept $5 million available under the salary cap. Popular sentiment was that it was being held for Foppa, and that proved to be the case in 2007-08, when he made a brief return.
At this time. the Avalanche has slightly less than $4 million available.
Several other NHL teams are rumored to be interested in signing Foppa. The New York Rangers are scouting the Karjala tournament and GM Glen Sather is on record as being very interested. The Rangers currently have no room under the cap. After last season, the Blueshirts released several high priced players, only to spend the savings on signing Marion Gaborik. Fiscal responsibility has never been the Rangers strong suit.
Other teams rumored to be interested include:
Washington. They have around $3.6 million available under the salary cap. How would Forsberg and Alexander Ovechkin co-exist? Interesting question.
Philadelphia. Foppa played for the Flyers from 2005 to 2007. But the Flyers played poorly during his last season there and they only have $500,000 available under the cap, not anywhere near enough.
Detroit, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver have also been rumored, but they are all over the cap.
Finally, another option for Forsberg could be Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League. Ak Bars Kazan of the KHL is rumored to be extremely interested. And while the KHL adopted a ’salary cap’ after last season, they do allow each team one exemption. It is reported that Jaromir Jagr is making $10 million playing in the KHL this season, more than Forsberg could get from any NHL team.
-Congratulations to Avalanche goaltender Craig Anderson for being named NHL 1st Star of the Month for October. The former UFA has been the surprise of the league. His 10 wins tied an NHL record and he led the league in saves percentage.