It has taken Mats Sundin several years to warm up to the fans of Toronto. But he has managed to do it. Just as he has managed to surpass other prominent men that dawned the Leaf jersey before him, in various records and individual statistics. He has been a class act in every one of his 13 seasons in which he has consistently lead his team, on and off the ice.
And with that out of the way, I must say John Ferguson Junior’s decision to decline the option and instead resign him for 1 year at 5.5 million dollars along with the proverbial no-trade clause, has got to be the worst decision he has made since becoming the GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs. And believe me, there are many to choose from.
My beef with this deal has little to do with the decision to have Sundin return to Toronto ice next season. Instead it is another example of how another Maple Leaf has effectively put the strangle hold on the youngest General Manager in the NHL, not to mention the fans and the future of this team.
Now I do not have the numbers in front of me, but I can safely assume that 1 year no-trade contracts are extremely rare. And with good reason. No-trade contracts are usually the byproduct of a give and take. However in Ferguson’s resume, no-trades seem to be his only bargaining chip. Well…, that and grossly overpaying his players.
By paying Mats Sundin 5.5 million over this next season, without the ability to possibly trade him away should the season not be going to plan, further handcuffs the team more. And watching player after player re-sign with the club this early summer after another dysmal season, that would once have been hard to imagine.
You might recall roughly 20 games to go before the end of the season, Mats Sundin was very close to tying and surpassing Darryl Sittler’s record for most goals by a Leaf. He never did accomplish that feat. And were the final 20 games not the most important chunk of the schedule for a team that was ‘oh so close’ to making the playoffs, but for a 2nd straight time failed at doing so? I’d like to call this little piece of evidence, bargaining chip #1.
You might also recall that throughout the entire season Mats Sundin has gone on record several times claiming how he wants to finish his career playing for no other team than the Toronto Maple Leafs. We’ll just jot that down as bargaining chip #2.
Then there was the whole hip injury controversy that quickly followed the final game against Montreal in which the Toronto Sun broke the news that Sundin might have to go under the knife. Since then we have learned that surgery will not be necessary, however there is no denying of this ailment having it’s effect on Sundin’s inability to score goals in the final quarter of the season. Sounds like bargaining chip #3 to me.
Finally, Ferguson keeps reminding Leaf fans that it is his philosophy to go with a youth movement. That is when he is not trading away second rounders at the deadline, for players that barely get five minutes of icetime in a losing cause, or trading away a huge goaltending prospect for another goaltender several years older coming off a horrible season while asking to be traded by his own team. Still, the consensus is that the Leafs are continuing with a youth movement. Bargaining chip #4.
So did JFJ use any of these bargaining chips while at the table with Sundin’s agent? It doesn’t appear so. In fact, a 5.5 one year no-trade deal appears much more like a ‘we’re desperate to re-acquire the services of Mats and we will do anything to outbid every other hungry NHL team in order to do it’ type of move.
Then again, choosing to exercise Sundin’s option in the first place, could have prevented that from happening.
And yes, I understand that by making this deal we have effectively dropped the cap value of his deal by almost 1 million dollars, which could arguably be used to better attract a free agent to improve the club. But it is nothing compared to the direction the St. Louis Blues and Philadelphia Flyers chose to improve theirs…
By trading their assets at the deadline for meaningful prospects whilst relieving their contractual obligations to make a splash in the free agent pool this summer.
And with that I say, JFJ strikes again.
