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Interest in Mats Sundin's rights as an unrestricted free agent has been off the scale, as seven teams made inquiries in the first 95 minutes of the free-agency period, according to sources familiar with the negotiations. The number is up to nine now, just past the three-hour mark of Tuesday's first day of the NHL's free-agent signing period.
Leading the pack is a two-year, $20-million offer from the Vancouver Canucks, whose general manager Mike Gillis used to be on the other side of the fence on July 1, when he was a player agent negotiating big-time contracts for his clients. Gillis is used to dealing in big numbers — and the attraction in Vancouver, for Sundin, who has never played in the Western Conference in his life, is their core of Swedish-born players, from the Sedin twins, to defencemen Mattias Ohlund and Alex Edler on the blueline.
Also, Gillis is on the record as saying he would consider bringing Markus Naslund back next year, if he can surround him with the right people. Clearly, the "right people" in this case means Sundin, a player they obviously targeted.
Even though Sundin is said to be "flattered" by all the interest, he is still pondering his options and may not make a decision about his playing future until later in the week, or even beyond that.
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Sundin, 37, is coming off a 78-point season and is attractive to a number of teams because of his ability and wouldn't necessarily require a two-year contract in order to play again.
A one-year deal is appealing to the NHL's other Swede-heavy team, the Detroit Red Wings, who have money to spend this year, but cannot go any longer on term than one year because Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen will both need to be signed for the 2009-10 seasons. Other teams interested in Sundin include Montreal, the New York Rangers and the Tampa Bay Lightning.
