Filip and Peter: A Tale of Two Forsbergs

Peter Forsberg is now in the Hall of Fame, but fans are already excited for a new Forsberg in the NHL.

No, Filip Forsberg is not related to Peter, but the two Swedes have a lot in common.

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Filip, like many other young Swedish hockey players in the past decade and a half, looked up to Peter as one of the faces of Swedish hockey. Peter, along with other Swedish legends like Markus Naslund, Mats Sundin, Niklas Lidstrom, Henrik Lundqvist, Henrik Zetterberg, and Daniel Alfredsson were part of a “golden age” of Swedish hockey in the early to mid-2000s, which saw them win the gold medal at the 2006 Olympics.

Now, Swedish hockey fans are hoping that Filip Forsberg will follow in the footsteps of the legend that shares his last name and lead a new charge of Swedish hockey players. Off to a great start for the Nashville Predators (Peter’s former team), Filip has 20 points in 16 games. His Forsberg-like competitiveness and vision are one of the reasons why the Preds are one of the best teams in the West right now. Filip, along with other Swedish youngsters Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Victor Hedman, Erik Karlsson and others are looking to make Sweden a force in the hockey world once again.

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Filip, however, has had a strange ride to the NHL. After fantastic showings in the 2011 Ivan Hlinka and World U18 Hockey Tournaments, and being projected as the top European forward in the 2012 Draft, he surprisingly dropped in the draft and was drafted eleventh overall by the Washington Capitals. Peter, on the other hand, was drafted a lot higher than expected in 1991, and many fans were upset at the Philadelphia Flyers’ management for doing that (they are probably not upset anymore). The Caps, however, unexpectedly traded Filip to Nashville for the aging Martin Erat and Michael Latta. That will probably turn out to be one of the worst trades in the past decade.

Filip’s brother, Frederik, is draft eligible this year.