Sundin Saga
July 20th, 2008 by Jason ChenTSN reported earlier this morning that Mats Sundin had agreed to sign with the Canucks, but it was later reported that he has not put the pen to the paper and that the report is simply false. Claes Elefalk, Sundin’s Swedish reporesentative, and JP Barry, his agent, have both denied the report, and claimed that they have been misquoted by Swedish journalist Dusan Umicevic.
This whole Sundin saga is rather interesting. Being a huge Canucks fan, I’ve followed this to a tee. Just a couple days ago on a local sports radio, TEAM 1040, Mike Gillis confirmed that he is still heavily pursuing Sundin, with the Leafs and Canadiens still very much interested. Gillis said that one of his major selling points to Sundin was the fact that come 2010, he would be captaining Team Sweden in front of his home crowd. Not only that, he would be able to have some sort of continuity from the NHL to Olympic game, considering that a handful of Canuck players are locks for the Swedish team. A couple of people have said that this is a great point and that Sundin should take this possibility into consideration. I, however, think it’s Gillis sounding desperate and grasping at straws. If his major selling point is the chance for Sundin to play in front of his “home crowd” while building an early camaraderie with his Swedish Canuck teammates, and not by boasting that perhaps Gillis has the best goalie in the league, then something is really wrong.
First, it’s fairly obvious that money is not the major motivator for Sundin, despite him (indirectly) saying that he won’t go to the team that offers anything less than $7m. The Canucks blew everyone out of the water by offering $20m, and Gillis probably thought Sundin would come aboard right away. The plan backfired after Sundin refused to bite, and more or less handcuffed the Canucks in their free agent negotiations. Fortunately for them, Pavol Demitra had already verbally agreed to sign with them, showing that perhaps this summer wasn’t totally a flop. I’m not sure what Sundin is thinking right now, but if winning the Cup is the biggest motivator then he should’ve by now signed with the Habs, and he hasn’t.
Second, Gillis is making promises he has no control over. No matter where Sundin goes, should he continue to be playing come 2010, he would be captain anyway (I think Niklas Lidstrom’s a better choice, but that’s another story). So the first part of his Olympic selling point is moot. The second part, in which Gillis says that Sundin would be able to play in front of his “home crowd” and build-up a camaraderie with his Swedish teammates, is moot as well. Sundin’s “home crowd” will always be in Sweden, and if his tenure in Vancouver flops a la Mark Messier, he will be hearing a chorus of boos regardless. His Swedish teammates, namely Henrik and Daniel Sedin, are not guaranteed to be Canucks after the 2009 season either. Both players are set to become free agents, and should the team face another disappointing season or playoff showing, it is very possible that the two will be leaving. Markus Naslund, one of Sweden’s best ever, has already left. Sundin already has a gold medal from Torino, but no Cup. If I were him, I’d be going for something I don’t have.
Third, Vancouver must be a very unattractive city to play in. We’ve already been spurned before by hometown heroes Joe Sakic and Paul Kariya, but for understandable reasons. Here we are, offering $20m, more than any other team, and Sundin’s still hesitating. Vancouver is obviously not a Cup contender, but it’s not like we’re the Kings or Thrashers either. We have an elite goalie, perhaps the best ever to suit up for the Canucks, a solid defense, and some respectable forwards. Vancouver is the most travel-heavy team, and perhaps that’s why Sundin doesn’t want to sign, but who really knows? The city (and the team) is notorious for being unable to attract high-end free agents, despite the city has been voted as one of the best places in the world.
EDIT: Apparently the news was broken by a very respectable Swedish newspaper called the Dagen Nyheter. It’s one of the two Swedish morning newspaper publications, and is unlikely to report something that doesn’t have some proof or evidence to it. It’s also interesting to note that Jaromir Jagr and Martin Straka’s signings were all first reported by European news sources, only to be denied by their respective agents.
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One Response to “Sundin Saga”
By nic on Aug 8, 2008
i think sundin should play for the Montreal Canadiens. He could help drastically on their already amazing offense. he could be on Kovalev or Markoves line