Forsberg's Impact: Preds vs. Caps Trade

0:00On April 3rd, back in 2013, at the NHL trade deadline, Nashville Predators flipped Martin Arot and Michael Lotsa to the Washington. Capitals for a young prospect, Philip Forsberg. The preads were sellers at 15 wins, 14 losses, and 8 ties, eyeing a rebuild, while the caps at 17 wins, 17 losses, and 3 ties chased the playoff spots a pair of Forsberg, potentially with Ovechkin and Backstrom. The caps caught fire right after, winning 10 of their last 11 games to snag the Southeast Division title. Meanwhile, Nashville stumbled hard, winning just once in 12 outings, which tanked their standings. Media buzzed that Washington overpaid for the veteran Arat, since Forsberg was raw at 19. Arat chipped in a goal and two assists in the regular season, but went pointless in their first round playoff loss to the Rangers. Forsberg arrived late from Sweden, notched one assist in five games, and that was it for year one.

1:02Fast forward, Nashville's slide gifted them the fourth pick in the 2013 draft, landing stud defenseman Seth Jones. They later shipped Jones to Columbus for Senator Ryan Johansson, who clicked perfectly with Forsberg and Victor Arvetson on that top line. That core powered the 8 seeded preads all the way to the Stanley Cup Final in 2017. Both squads kind of won in the end, Nashville built a contender around Forsberg and the caps hoisted the cup in 2018 without him or Arat flying those flags forever. Stay locked in with NHL News Today, AI-powered updates. I'm Corey with The Story.