Mats Sundin has told Maple Leafs’ interim GM, Cliff Fletcher, that he will not be waiving his no-trade clause. This is what Sundin had to say,
“I have carefully considered the team’s request that I waive my no-trade clause,” Sundin said in a statement. “I have always believed I would finish my career as a Toronto Maple Leaf so the actual request was still a very difficult one for me to contemplate. I have spoken to and listened to my family and those closest to me about this issue. In the end, there is no right decision in a situation like this one. I cannot leave my teammates and join another NHL Club at this time. I have never believed in the concept of a rental player. It is my belief that winning the Stanley Cup is the greatest thing you can achieve in hockey but for me, in order to appreciate it you have to have been part of the entire journey and that means October through June. I hope everyone will understand and respect my decision.”
This is a huge blow to the Leaf’s plan on rebuilding because a player of Sundin’s caliber would have fetched a significant return, something like a key player, a prospect and a high draft pick. That is at the very least, if there would have been a bidding war over his services, which would have been likely, the price would have rose dramatically.
There is another reason that this changes the everything that could have happened at the trade deadline. As a result of Sundin refusing to waive his no-trade clause, other Maple Leaf players have followed suit. Tomas Kaberle, Darcy Tucker, and Pavel Kubina have also informed Fletcher that they would not waive their no-trade clauses. To my count that leaves only two over-paid, under-performing players that could yield a decent return. Jason Blake(who doesn’t have a no-trade clause) and Bryan McCabe appear to have left the door open for now, but let’s face it, teams are not going to be rushing to call Fletcher about these guys.
And lastly, with Sundin’s desicion, that makes Marian Hossa the most sought after player at tomorrow’s deadline, good news for Thrasher’s GM Don Waddell, he has every intention of trading away Hossa, and now he might get that bidding war Fletcher was hoping for.
Then there is the signing of Peter Forsberg… ARGH! BULLSHIT, change the rules! Teams should not be able to sign Free-Agents this late in the season, it is absolutely ridiculous. I hope so, so bloody much that the Avalanche miss play-offs and that they wasted $1 million. I hope so much….
