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So Mats Sundin would rather be a bad Toronto Maple Leaf than a champion Anaheim Duck or Detroit Red Wing or San Jose Shark.
Right now, the only people rejoicing over this are Don Waddell and Jay Feaster.
Waddell, the general manager of the Atlanta Thrashers, will now get serious attention from his NHL counterparts in his attempts to trade forward Marian Hossa. Ditto for Feaster, the GM of the Tampa Bay Lightning, who is trying to convince centre Brad Richards to waive the no-trade clause in his contract and agree to a move.
As for Sundin, he finally got around to thinking long and hard about waiving his no-trade clause this weekend. The epiphany arrived late Sunday night after talks with his agent, J.P. Barry of CAA Sports, his family and, somehow, Phil Esposito.
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- Mark Bell
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“I cannot leave my teammates and join another NHL club at this time,” Sundin said in a statement released late Sunday night. “I have never believed in the concept of a rental player. It is my belief that winning the Stanley Cup is the greatest thing you can achieve in hockey but for me, in order to appreciate it, you have to have been part of the entire journey and that means October through June. I hope everyone will understand and respect my decision.”
Everyone will have to include Sundin's teammates because some of them are going to pay a stiff price for his intransigence. A lot of them with big contracts might end up playing in the minor leagues next season because that is the only way the Leafs can open up space under the salary cap and space on the roster for the few youngsters they have.
Fletcher now has to fall back on Plan B since he cannot trade the team's best asset for the draft picks and young players the Leafs so desperately need.
The next thing to do is clear the roster and open cap space so the next general manager of the Maple Leafs has a fighting chance to rebuild. Right now, the Leafs have $43.3-million (all currency U.S.) committed in salaries to 18 players next season. Most of the expensive ones are not pulling their weight.
Fletcher's only alternative is to put the worst offenders on waivers and, when no other NHL team claims them, send them to the Toronto Marlies farm team or elsewhere. That would take their salaries off the cap.
His targets could include Jason Blake, Darcy Tucker, Pavel Kubina, Mark Bell and Andrew Raycroft. That represents a potential trim of $16.2-million from next season's salary cap.
The Leafs would still have to pay the players, but they can afford it. And Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment president Richard Peddie has already said they are willing to swallow that pill.
On the trade front, Fletcher's focus will shift to defenceman Bryan McCabe. He said he might waive the no-trade clause in his contract if Fletcher came to him with an irresistible trade offer from a Stanley Cup contender.
McCabe has three years and $14.45-million left on his contract with a cap hit of $5.75-million a year. But since the actual payout is less than $5-million a year, a team with no cap worries might take an interest.
With Sundin staying put, Fletcher will put much of his energy Monday and Tuesday, before the 3 p.m. EST trade deadline, into moving McCabe.
His success could depend on a meeting Feaster has Monday with movie producer Oren Koules, the incoming owner of the Lightning about the future of defenceman Dan Boyle. That meeting could clear the logjam in trades for defencemen.
Boyle, 31, is the best defenceman available and he is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. But Feaster has a contract agreement with him for six years at an annual salary of $6.5-million to $7-million.
However, that agreement has to be approved by Koules. If he approves, Boyle comes off the market, which will make Buffalo Sabres defenceman Brian Campbell the hottest commodity among blueliners. It may also create some interest in McCabe.
But if Koules does not, Boyle will be traded to the highest bidder and McCabe may stay put.
As for Sundin, you can say his belief that winning a Stanley Cup only matters if you participate in the entire journey is an honourable sentiment, held by an honourable man. However, it overlooks a certain reality.
Sundin is 37 years old. If you are Fletcher or next season's GM of the Leafs, would you sign him for a rebuilding team? He may yet have to take that Cup journey elsewhere.
