Allan Maki
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail Published on Tuesday, Jul. 29, 2008 8:03PM EDT Last updated on Tuesday, Mar. 31, 2009 8:25PM EDT
The deadline still stands. Later this week, free-agent centre Mats Sundin is expected to announce his plans for the coming NHL season.
Will he play? His agent, J.P. Barry of CAA Sports, believes so even though he has yet to hear that from Sundin.
But just to be sure, Claes Elefalk, CAA's Stockholm-based agent, is scheduled to sit down with the former Toronto Maple Leafs captain today and get a read on the situation.
"Claes will meet with Mats and talk," Barry said.
"Once we know for sure if he's playing, we can discuss options."
Where he will play this season is the next big question facing the 37-year-old, who has taken a leisurely approach to determining his fate since his contract with the Maple Leafs expired earlier this month.
Toronto, which had tried to move Sundin in February at the NHL trade deadline, gave the Montreal Canadiens permission to talk with Barry and Sundin before the July 1 start of free agency. That didn't prompt a decision from Sundin.
The Vancouver Canucks offered a two-year, $20-million (U.S.) contract and the opportunity to play in the host city of the 2010 Winter Olympics.
That didn't elicit a decision from Sundin, either.
Sources have said other teams such as the Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers remain interested in Sundin, who may not be fond of the heavy travel schedule that would come with joining the Canucks.
All that aside, there's still the possibility Sundin could re-sign with the Maple Leafs, thereby ending his NHL career in the city where he has earned his greatest fame, not to mention the disappointment of having never played in a Stanley Cup final.
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