NAPLES, FLA. — Mats Sundin may be inspiring feverish discussions among the NHL's 30 general managers at their annual winter meetings, but none of them have excited Toronto Maple Leafs interim GM Cliff Fletcher.
Fletcher said he won't make a trade by the time the meetings end Wednesday afternoon because no one is willing to ante up for the Leafs' captain.
“There's been a few rowboats offered for a battleship,” Fletcher said. “We'll be leaving here [this] afternoon and we won't have completed a trade by then, that's for sure.
“If you look in past years . . . I don't think many deals have been consummated at the meetings. Usually it takes teams time to go think, sit down internally with their respective organizations and decide how to proceed from there.”
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However, according to one GM, the high level of interest in Sundin has prevented Atlanta Thrashers general manager Don Waddell from making headway in trading his star player, Marian Hossa. Clubs have told Waddell they want to see first what happens with Sundin.
The big problem for Fletcher and the Leafs remains the no-trade clause in Sundin's contract. Sundin has insisted he will not waive the clause.
There was one minor trade yesterday. The Los Angeles Kings moved defenceman Jaroslav Modry to the Philadelphia Flyers for a third-round choice in this year's entry draft.
The Modry trade probably signals the end of attempts by Flyers GM Paul Holmgren to acquire Maple Leafs defenceman Tomas Kaberle.
Trade talks stalled when Kaberle refused to waive the no-trade clause in his contract.
Modry, 37, has six points in 61 games with the Kings this season and is set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.
But the Flyers have a lot of injuries on defence and had lost seven consecutive games before last night's contest.
