Forsberg happy Duchene trade to Senators worked out

STOCKHOLM -- Put Hockey Hall of Famer
Peter Forsberg
down as someone who is certainly happy and somewhat relieved that center Matt Duchene was traded by the Colorado Avalanche to the Ottawa Senators on Sunday.
The trade happened less than a month after Forsberg, translated from a Swedish television broadcast, said his former team should bench Duchene and trade him.

"I would say I'm happy that it got solved so quick afterward," Forsberg said Wednesday from Ericsson Globe, where the Avalanche and Senators will play two games as part of the 2017 SAP NHL Global Series on Friday (2 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN5, RDS, ALT, NHL.TV) and Saturday (1 p.m. ET; NHLN, SN, RDS, ALT, NHL.TV).
"I don't know if I had anything to do with it, but it got highlighted when I said something like that. I'm glad for all sides that it's solved."
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Forsberg, who won the Stanley Cup two times during his 10 seasons with the Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques, said during the Swedish broadcast of Colorado's game against the New Jersey Devils on Oct. 7 that he didn't think Duchene should be allowed to play because of his desire to be traded.
Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic said Sunday that Duchene asked to be traded around Christmas last year.
"Put him in the stands," Forsberg said, as translated by Expressen reporter Robin Lindgren and reported in The Denver Post. "If I were playing with a player that I know doesn't even want to be in the team, it's not like he is going to throw himself on the ice and block shots with his head. It is mostly difficult to have a player like that in the team, although he is skillful and is doing his best. I would rather play with someone that wants to be there. I would put him on the bench and trade him."
Duchene went to Ottawa as part of a three-team trade involving the Avalanche, Senators and Nashville Predators. Colorado acquired defenseman Samuel Girard, forward Vladislav Kamenev, goalie Andrew Hammond, forward prospect Shane Bowers, a first-round pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, a second-round pick in 2018 and a third-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft as part of the trade.
Nashville acquired center Kyle Turris from Ottawa and signed him to a six-year, $36 million contract.

"I think it worked out for all three [teams]," Forsberg said. "When it comes to three teams it shows how complex the situation is, but I think all three teams benefit from where they are in their situations. I think everybody is happy with what they got and what they're going for."
Forsberg, who played 17 games for the Predators in 2006-07, said he was particularly happy for Duchene and the Avalanche.
"Look at the trade, it was a good trade for the Avalanche too," he said. "They're building younger and they've got a lot of younger talent coming in now. For Ottawa, they're trying to win now and that's what Matt wanted to do, a little earlier than the [Avalanche] being the situation they're in. I think it's just fantastic that for Matt that it finally got solved and he got to go to a team that's a contender and wants to be a contender.
"The Avalanche are saying they're rebuilding but they're getting better and they're better than people probably thought they'd be at the start. I think they've got something going. They're good now but they might be great in a year or two here, so I think it worked out great."
Forsberg said he spoke to Duchene after his comments on the Swedish broadcast caused a stir.
"I got his perspective from a little insight so I understood him more," Forsberg said. "Maybe I should have said in general when you have a guy that doesn't really want to be there [it's hard to play with him]. I didn't want to hang out Matt specifically, but I was on TV and I'm commenting and I have to say the truth."
Former Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson, who worked in the Senators front office the past two seasons, said he thinks Duchene should be an exciting player for them.
"I did some research a year and a half ago on him," Alfredsson said. "I talked to some friends in Sweden when he was there and playing and some guys he played with before. He takes hockey very seriously. He loves the game. He works really hard and looks after himself as well. He takes his job very seriously. Hopefully it's a trade that works out for everybody."
Alfredsson said Duchene should give the Senators a different look on the power play because he's a left-handed shot. Turris is a righty.
Ottawa (20.0 percent) is tied for 12th on the man-advantage with the Vegas Golden Knights. Turris averaged 3:32 of power play ice time per game in his 11 games this season.
"For Ottawa, there's not many teams that can say they can get rid of a right-handed shooter, especially a center," Alfredsson said, "but we've been able to have a few so having a left-handed guy on the power play will be interesting to see."