When the Washington Capitals traded Filip Forsberg to the Nashville Predators in exchange for Martin Erat and Michael Latta, fans were pretty certain the Capitals ended up on the losing side of the deal. That notion has only been confirmed as Forsberg has excelled in his first year and is the clear favorite for the Calder Trophy.
Are the Capitals regretting their decision? You better believe it.
Washington GM Brian MacLellan had this to say, via Adam Vingan:
The quote above isn’t earth-shattering, but it’s not too often you see a GM admit they may have made a mistake. MacLellan appears to kind of breeze past the question, but he still admits that he’d accept a do-over if one was presented and that’s rare to see in the GM world.
Of course, you have to wonder what drove MacLellan to trade away Forsberg in the first place. The unexpected trade was puzzling as the Capitals selected Forsberg 11th in the first round of 2012, only to trade him away for two questionable assets one year later. Did the scouting report suddenly change in Washington? If it did, the scout or individual behind that notion deserves to be fired.
Should Forsberg maintain his current track and continue to develop, this trade will only look more and more lopsided. In a few years, MacLellan may not even want to talk about the trade as it may go down as one of the worst in Washington history.
