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With Mats Sundin back on the sidelines yesterday because of his groin injury, Leafs Nation contemplated the notion he has played his final game as a Toronto Maple Leaf.
There are now just two games left in the Leafs' mediocre 2007-08 NHL season. Interim general manager Cliff Fletcher said last night he doesn't think Sundin will be able to play tomorrow night against the Ottawa Senators in the Leafs' final home game of the season.
However, Fletcher went on to say he expects Sundin to be back in a Leaf uniform next season and there is "a unanimous consensus" among upper management that the Leafs want him back.
As Fletcher admitted, though, that is just his gut feeling. He and Sundin had "a brief meeting [yesterday] on that and a few other subjects," although he did not get a concrete answer about the 37-year-old captain's plans.
With Sundin set to become an unrestricted free agent July 1 and talking about taking his career one year at a time, the fans and some of the media are on tenterhooks about his future. His increasingly rare appearances before the media — Sundin declined interview requests yesterday after the news came out that his groin injury flared up again — are studied like the Dead Sea Scrolls for signs of his intentions.
Leafs Nation breathlessly awaits a white puff of smoke from Sundin's compound to signal his decision (which Fletcher said he expects on or before the NHL entry draft weekend of June 21).
But, given the Leafs' situation, shouldn't that question be reversed? Shouldn't the question be whether or not the Leafs think it is necessary to bring him back?
I realize this is a delicate matter for the faithful. As Fletcher said last night, Sundin is "one of the greatest Leafs ever." Since he arrived — in a blockbuster trade engineered by Fletcher in his earlier incarnation as Leafs GM at the 1994 entry draft — Sundin has become the franchise's scoring leader with 420 career goals and the all-time points leader with 987 points.
Sundin also conducted himself with dignity in the glare of the NHL's brightest media spotlight. In a sporting world filled with the antics of Terrell Owens, Sean Avery and others of the me-first generation, Sundin has never given Leaf management the slightest headache.
But the salary cap world of the NHL is not one with room for hearts and flowers. It is a cold, calculating place where the operating credo is what have you done for me today and is it worth your paycheque.
On the players' side, the salary cap world is a place where Sundin could sign with another team in July after refusing to waive the no-trade clause in his contract at the NHL trade deadine on Feb. 26.
The Leafs are in the midst of dismantling their roster to prepare the way for a new management regime. They will get much younger next season.
Despite his age, Sundin's accomplishments this season, 78 points in 74 games, mean he could command a salary in the neighbourhood of $7-million (all currency U.S.) for 2008-09. His stipend this season is $5.5-million, which is something of a hometown discount.
What the Leafs should consider is whether it is worth making an exception in clearing the decks of high-priced veterans in order to bring Sundin back for one more season. Will he understand the team will not be a contender next season and cheerfully serve as a mentor to the youngsters as well as the on-ice leader?
It is a rare bird who willingly accepts such a role if he has the opportunity to go to a Stanley Cup contender elsewhere. Then again, Sundin is the fellow who said repeatedly at the trade deadline that he only wanted to be a Maple Leaf and winning a Stanley Cup after a few months as a rental player with another team would be meaningless.
It is those sentiments, plus Sundin's superb play this season, that convinced Fletcher his captain expects to play one more year. "He made a pretty strong commitment at the trade deadline when he said he didn't want to play for another team," Fletcher said.
However, Fletcher should insist that if Sundin wants to come back it has to be with a hometown discount — a salary somewhere near what he earns today. The Leafs are in cutdown mode. With the ground being prepared for the next generation, why should they pay $7-million to one player when it is not going to make a bit of difference to their playoff chances?
