Is Peter Forsberg underrated?

[HockeyWooot]

He’s an all time player. He is revered.

He is absolutely NOT underrated.

 

[HockeyWooot]

Assuming he is not injured in any season, here are Forsberg's projected point finishes from 95/96 to 03/04 (with Mario removed). The next two seasons are a write off. He wins a very solid Art Ross in 02/03 and is likely heading for another in 03/04:

1, 1, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5

Do you don’t get merits and accolades on talent alone. By that measure the modern Maple Leafs are a great dynasty.

At the highest level of sports it comes down to performance. Durability is an underrated aspect of performance.

 

[Ben White]

Assuming he is not injured in any season, here are Forsberg's projected point finishes from 95/96 to 03/04 (with Mario removed). The next two seasons are a write off. He wins a very solid Art Ross in 02/03 and is likely heading for another in 03/04:

1, 1, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5

Very poor projection with no in depth analysis what so ever.

Take away his back surgery to start the 1999/2000 season, right after his arguably best playoff performance ever in 1999, and he’s most likely top 5 in both 99/00 and 00/01. There’s a reason he needed to heal up by sitting out the entire 2002 regular season - hence he could dominate that playoff series with hardly any practice. What looked like a miracle - sitting out for a year and having one practice and suddenly be the best in the world - was actually quite logical, as the only thing that held him back from being #1 one was his torn body. He then dominated the 02/03 and 03/04 seasons, followed by an unlucky lockout in 04/05 right at his peak, and then he was right back at it being the best player in the world in 05/06 before a mid season injury finally took the better of the Peter the Great that we knew.

I have zero doubt that after he established himself as the top C in the league in 1998 that he would ever look back from that if it wasn’t for injuries. Look at his per game numbers, look at his playoff numbers, look at his era adjusted numbers. He also scored more per game in seasons when he played more games so the worn out argument about “more difficult to keep the pace up during a full season” is just out of context. All the facts are there to give him the benefit of the doubt for his missed time. He was almost as good offensively as Jagr and likely a better all around player.

 

[SirKillalot]

If you ask me of a player you didn't want to face or absolutely like to have on your team in a prime state of their career in the playoffs, Forsberg is the guy.