So after telling the world that he was not particularly confident in his health and ability to make an impact in the National Hockey League, reports are that Peter Forsberg has reached an agreement with the Colorado Avalanche for the remainder of the season. I’m not all that surprised he went to Colorado where he won two Stanley Cups but I was rather shocked at the signing after seeing everywhere that he would not be returning to the NHL this season.

Before everyone gets into a frenzy about the Foppa signing, let’s all take a step back to a place I like to call “Reality”. In this extra special place, we have to remind ourselves that Forsberg is seriously no longer the game-breaker he used to be. Although he was over a point-a-game in ‘05-06 and damn close last year with Philly and Nashville (he’s actually more than a point per game for his career), he was a hair away from retiring this year. When healthy, Forsberg is right up there with the best in the world but as it stands, I wouldn’t put too much stock in his comeback although kudos for at least staying away and training for the beginning of the year rather than forcing it. Good luck to Foppa on his return but to all the fantasy owners out there, don’t drop more consistent talent for him. However, if you’re a gambling man and have a bench spot to spare, take a chance. Who knows…maybe he’ll see some time with Sakic or Paul Stastny?

- The biggest name in recent trade talks, Mats Sundin, took himself off the market yesterday by refusing to waive his “no-trade” clause. Sundin has been linked to…everywhere for absurd returns like four first round picks or four former first round prospects and/or roster players. I know because the rumor was that the Vancouver Canucks were to offer something ridiculous like Ryan Kesler, Luc Bourdon, Cory Schnieder and a first round pick for the 37-year old Leafs captain. Sundin cited his desire to remain in Toronto, where he has spent the last 13 years of his career, and the fact that he does not believe in being a “rental” player.

“I cannot leave my teammates and join another NHL club at this time,” Sundin said in a statement. “I have never believed in the concept of a rental player. It is my belief that winning the Stanley Cup is the greatest thing you can achieve in hockey, but for me, in order to appreciate it, you have to have been part of the entire journey and that means October through June. I hope everyone will understand and respect my decision.”

It’s no secret that the Leafs are looking to rebuild after another terrible year, which has them currently in 12th place in the Eastern conference and six points behind the Flyers for the last playoff spot, somewhere they haven’t been since ‘03-04. The Leafs could’ve sped up the process with the assets they would’ve received in exchange for Sundin playing somewhere else for two months but now they’ll have to look elsewhere.

Some Leafs fans are already criticizing Sundin, considering him selfish for not accepting a rental deal but like so many things out of Toronto, this is rather ridiculous. They should be thankful their captain, who is still an All-Star caliber player, is willing to stick with the team even though he could go to a contender. Loyalty should be rewarded. However, staying essentially rules Sundin out of winning a Stanley Cup as Toronto is years away from contention. Without any real prospects and a battalion of overpaid, underperforming players under contract for the next couple years, it is unlikely Mats will get his name etched on the trophy.

- Vinnie Prospal becomes the first semi-big name traded close to the deadline. He goes to the Philadephia Flyers in exchange for Alexandre Picard and a conditional pick in the ‘09 draft. The Lightning are looking to clean house after a disappointing season and new ownership coming in soon.

Prospal has been rather good with 57 points in 62 games this season and has been fairly consistent with the Bolts (although it’s hard not to be playing with talent like Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis). The move bolsters the Flyers’ lineup, which has lost ten in a row in addition to breakout star Mike Richards and Simon Gagne. It’ll be tough to replace guys like that but with so few names available, they had to go get someone.

- Dan Boyle re-signed to a six-year, $40 million dollar contract extension ($6.6m per season) with the aforementioned Lightning. He put up career highs last season with 63 points but has been on the sidelines for much of this year because of injuries. Since his return, he has been scoring at the same pace.

This move goes against the common belief that the Bolts are looking to dump salary as the team also has their three big forwards, Lecavalier, St. Louis and Brad Richards, signed to big contracts, almost $20m between those three. Tampa has a self-imposed salary cap which is lower than most other teams in the league so with over $26 million eaten up by just four players, it’s unlikely they’ll have much room to work in the off-season, where they’ll probably want to get Lecavalier extended as soon as possible before his contract is up after ‘08-09.

Boyle’s re-signing further fuels the rumors that Brad Richards is on his way out of Tampa Bay. He has been linked to Dallas (for Mike Smith and Jussi Jokinen), Vancouver (Cory Schnieder and Luc Bourdon), Chicago (Nikolai Khabibulin) and Columbus (Gilbert Brule and Fredrik Norrena). It’s believed that the Lightning are looking for a goalie and a reasonable roster player or prospect as their netminders have not been very good this season. They can’t expect too much since Richards’ contract makes him nearly untradeable and any team that takes him will be doing so to help the Bolts dump salary. So far, it looks like Dallas is the front runner as Mike Smith is probably the best option in net out of these teams. Khabibulin’s contract is almost as high as Richards’ so that trade is quite unlikely.

- Barret Jackman was re-signed by the Blues to a four-year, $14.4 million deal. He’s a solid blueliner and just entering his prime but it remains to be seen how this deal works out for the Blues. He won’t put up many points but is a physical, defensive presence.

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After weeks of trade rumours about Peter Forsberg going to one team or another, today his agent announced that Peter will not be returning to the NHL this season.

Forsberg is still not 100% and his chronic foot issues have still not be corrected. In one way I am glad that this over but disappointed that the media, fans and teams were all lead to believe he would be returning.

So who will be this years big trade? Hossa? Sundin?

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Sometimes we forget that hockey is a game where guys strap blades to their feet and fly around at high speed swinging around some carbon fiber.

Last night, Richard Zednik was caught in the neck with a teammates skate, severing an artery and leaving a trail of blood on the ice. It was a horrifying sight, eerily similar to the one that almost cost goaltender Clint Malarchuk his life almost 20 years ago. Thankfully, Zednik reacted quickly, clutching his neck as he skated to the bench where medical staff was able to stabilize him before transporting him to a local Buffalo hospital. He’s said be be in stable condition and thank goodness for that.

- In trade news today, the Ottawa Senators and the Carolina Hurricanes made a four players swap. Ottawa sent defenseman Joe Corvo and forward Patrick Eaves to the ‘Canes in exchange for forward Cory Stillman and defenseman Mike Commodore. This is probably the biggest trade of the season so far, as the player market has slowed due to the new parity in the NHL brought on by the salary cap and collective bargaining agreement.

In Stillman, the Senators acquire the top-six scoring forward they were looking for as with the injuries to Dany Heatley and captain Daniel Alfredsson in the last few weeks have exposed them as a one line team (albeit probably the best single line in hockey). Although Stillman’s production has slowed as of late, he gives Ottawa another scoring threat and will likely relieve a bit of the pressure on the first line. Fantasy owners might have to wait and see as Stillman, who waived his no-trade clause to accommodate the trade, as his icetime may drop playing behind Heatley, Spezza and Alfredsson. However, if he ends up on a line with either Spezza or Alfredsson, his fantasy value will undoubtedly rise.

I’ve always though Mike Commodore was a rather underrated defensive defenseman. He will most likely play on the second pairing but is capable of playing big minutes as well. He’s a big (6′5″, 230lbs), physical d-man who will be a great addition to the Senators’ blueline.

Eaves has been touted as a top-six forward through his short career but has been rather disappointing. I know because I’ve drafted him in late rounds in hockey pool for two years now since you always think he might see ice-time with Spezza and Heatley so Alfredsson can play on another line. However, it never happens and he has a bit of an injury plague as well. If he doesn’t have a serious breakout season soon, he’ll most likely become a career third-liner and just filling in space. The former first-round pick has been sidelined since late January.

Despite being 31-years old, this is only Joe Corvo’s fifth NHL season. He doesn’t (or can’t) play the big minutes, usually playing around the 15-16 minute mark each game, but is a solid offensive, puck-moving defenseman. However, that being said, he hasn’t finished on the minus side of plus/minus in his five years and will address the Hurricane’s need for a PP blueliner.

A relatively even trade, overall, although the Senators probably got the better end of the deal. Now if they could only address the Ray Emery situation, they would be a very serious contender to reach the finals again this year.

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C’mon, how many of you weren’t expecting this? Honestly, the timing is a bit strange since I thought it would be sooner rather than later but at least the rest of Canada can now live in peace without having Leafs news crammed down our throats by the “Center of the Universe” media.

It’s tough to blame all of the Leafs troubles on John Ferguson Jr. even though Toronto is, as of today, six points out of the playoff race. That doesn’t sound like much but with the new parity in the NHL, a six point margin makes it real difficult to catch the teams in front of you unless they have a monumental collapse.

No, the blame can also be placed on the owners and their absurd situation where no one has any real power to do anything without consulting the entire Maple Leafs Entertainment ownership group. One can also blame the Toronto media and Leafs fans as JFJ’s actions were really just a reflection of their own flawed logic, going for quick fixes at the expense of the future. For the last several years, the Leaf’s draft picks have been terrible and very few have made it to the big club. Rather than building from within, the Leafs go out and sign aging, overrated players like Jason Blake and give everyone else absurd contracts with no-trade clauses.

The greatest tragedy out of all this is perhaps that Ferguson deserved a little better. The Leafs were clearly looking for his replacement while he was still employed and regardless of what you thought about the job he did, no one deserves that level of disrespect in a professional environment.

As for Ferguson’s successor? Many pundits point to Brian Burke, the current GM of the Anaheim Ducks. This may seem strange since Burke still has a year left on his contract with the Ducks but this may actually work out for everyone if he decides to jump ship. Of course, he’s unlikely to be fired since he just built a team in two years that went from a bunch of overpaid, overrated players to a Stanley Cup champion but there are ways that Burke could be GM of the Leafs by next season.

For one thing, he is probably the ideal GM for the troubled franchise. When he arrived in Anaheim, the moves Burke made paid immediate dividends. For one thing, he managed to dump the $6m salary of Sergei Federov, who had been underperforming for years and had a contract that made him basically untradeable. Bringing Chris Pronger from Edmonton gave the Ducks the most formidable blueline (with Scott Niedermayer) in the league. This sort of action could be just the juice that Toronto needs.

There’s always the issue of the year remaining on Burke’s contract but if he wants out of it, I’m sure Toronto could adequately compensate the Ducks. Let’s face it, if the Leafs want Burke, they’ll wait the extra year to get him. I’m sure Burke also wants the job as the man loves the spotlight…and there’s no bigger than the one in Toronto.

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Honestly, does it surprise anyone that Alexander the Great inked the richest deal in franchise and league history?

The Washington Capitals announced yesterday that Ovechkin signed a 13-year, $124-million dollar contract that will have him in a Caps uniform until he is 35. It’s not quite as long as Rick DiPietro’s 15-year deal but it’s certainly richer as reports have the first 6 years paying the young Russian forward $9m a season and then $10m a season for the remainder.

Now maybe all the “Ovechkin Trade!” rumors will go away. Let’s face it, Ovechkin wasn’t going anywhere. Even if a deal wasn’t signed by July, the Capitals had the option to match any offer sheet thrown his way and they would match it regardless of amount. Losing their franchise player, possibly the best player to ever wear a Caps uniform would’ve been devastating. Second only perhaps to Sidney Crosby, Ovechkin is the most marketable player in the league.

A lot of people are probably wondering why Alexander the Great is being paid more than Sid the Kid even though the latter is the reigning scoring champ and league MVP. This comes down to several factors, really. There’s absolutely no doubt that the Penguins would’ve signed Crosby for similar money given the chance but the Penguins and Capitals are very different teams right now. The Penguins have what I like to call “The Scottie Pippen Conundrum”, where they’ve drafted one world class player after the next and now have a team full of budding superstars. Crosby attracts most of the attention but let’s not forget about Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal, Ryan Whitney and Marc-Andre Fleury as well as up-and-commer Kris Letang. Malkin and Fleury will surely demand superstar money when their years are up so Crosby has to accept a bit of a discount to hold the team together as long as possible.

Washington doesn’t have the same problem, really. No offense to Alexander Semin and Niklas Backstrom but the Capitals will be near the bottom-of-the-barrel for a few more years, especially if the underrated Olaf Kolzig retires anytime soon.

- In other news, the Dallas Stars re-signed Mike Ribeiro to a $25m, 5-year extension. Ribeiro wasn’t spectacular last year, putting up 59 points in 81 games but this year, he’s on a tear with 48 points in 43, on pace for a career year. Honestly, I never liked this guy after that whole incident when he still played in Montreal where he collapsed on the ice and then laughed when everyone in the building showed concern for his well-being but if he continues to put up the stats, this signing will be a bargain for the Stars. However, if he returns to his usual 50-60 points a year, then the Stars will have added another overpaid member to their lineup.

- Speaking of bargains, how about the deal the Detroit Red Wings got for veteran netminder Chris Osgood at an average of $1.5m over the next three years. Sure, he isn’t getting any younger at 34 but he’s 19-2-2 for the year and owns the leagues best save percentage. That’s one hell of a deal and the almighty Red Wings still have over $5m in salary cap space, which is no small wonder considering they have two top d-men getting $6m or more. However, this will probably end next year when they’ll most likely offer an extension to Henrik Zetterberg. Hell, maybe the ageless Dominik Hasek is up for another season too.

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