OPINION

By Kara Yorio

updated 12:40 p.m. ET Feb. 21, 2007

Kara Yorio

Peter Forsberg has been traded. A blockbuster? Not exactly, but a big deal nonetheless. The details: Forsberg to the Predators for winger Scottie Upshall, defenseman Ryan Parent, a first-round pick and a third-round pick. Forsberg, of course, has struggled through injuries this season and will be a free agent on July 1.

The Predators have officially announced their run for the Cup. This team will not settle for being a contender. They made the big deal to be champion.

And despite everyone wanting to analyze this to death immediately and decide who was the winner and who was the loser, who got ripped off and who stole the prize, this is absolutely one of those deals that can't be judged until down the road. And it will be judged at different times.

If Forsberg can play, offer his Stanley Cup-champion playoff experience and offensive skills and the Predators win the Stanley Cup, Nashville is a winner no matter what Upshall and Parent turn out to be and no matter who the Flyers get with those picks.

If Forsberg barely plays or plays but doesn't help much, if his addition disrupts a team already playing well, if they do not win the Cup, the Predators gave up too much.

It's a classic risk-reward situation.

We know the reward. So what was the risk, what did the Predators give up?

The picks, obviously, are key. You had to know anyone who got Forsberg would have to offer a couple of those and definitely a first-rounder. The Flyers got that, and the Predators mortgaged a bit of the future -- as just about every team must when they make deals to win it all.

They gave up one player from their roster -- Scottie Upshall, 23, has only played 14 games this season because of a serious groin injury. He was recalled from his conditioning stint in the AHL in late January. Upshall was the team's first-round pick (sixth overall) in 2002. He has been up and down between the NHL and the AHL. He has seen a little time on the top line, but spent the majority of his healthy portion of this season fighting for a spot on the fourth line of a deep team.

Parent (6-2, 205) is a defenseman whom the Predators took with the 18th pick in 2005. He is playing for Guelph Storm of the Ontario Hockey League this season and has missed 23 of the team's 55 games because of injuries and international play. He is out now with a bulging disk in his back. He was the captain of the 2005 Canadian team that won the silver medal at the U-18 world championships and a gold medallist for Team Canada at the 2006 world juniors this winter.

The deal was an announcement from Music City: The Predators are here to win the Stanley Cup. The players get the message. The fans get the message. The rest of the league gets the message.

Anaheim and Detroit, your biggest competition just got better (even with a less-than-healthy Forsberg). You're on the clock.

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