Premature Evaluation

Mats Sundin remains in Free Agent purgatory Mid-day Wednesday, and reports of a Thursday deadline for a decision have been refuted by his agent, J.P. Barry.

Barry has stated that Thursday will be the EARLIEST that the 37-year-old Center and 555 goal scorer will choose a team to play for this season. 

The Rangers are favorites to land the former Maple Leafs captain, but a lot of work is to be done in order to fit the Swede under the salary cap. With roster freezes taking effect on Friday, this story looks likely to drag on past the holiday season and into the New Year. 

According to reports, the last team remaining in the Sundin sweepstakes besides the Rangers is the Vancouver Canucks. Vancouver offered Sundin a 2-year $20 million contract during the summer, but Mats elected to sit out the beginning of the season and await another opportunity instead.

I think it's pretty clear that the Rangers and Sundin are mutual in their desire to complete a contract. Sundin, if he comes to New York, will have fellow Swedes Markus Naslund and Henrik Lundqvist, as well as Fredrik Sjostrom to acclimate him into his new setting. The team is sitting in the top third of the Eastern Conference standings, and although the Canucks sit 5th in the West, the road to the Stanley Cup through the East is much easier than going through the teams of the West. 

As for the Rangers, they long for a top-tier power forward who can help the Power Play, and push this team to elite status. Add in the leadership qualities of the Swede, and it could be a match made in heaven for both sides.

Now as for the financial issue of this situation...

The Rangers are currently hard-pressed against the cap as it is. They have approximately $1 million to work with as of today. The Blueshirts are exploring many options that would relieve their cap situation. Options include trading/waiving the underachieving Petr Prucha and/or Dan Fritche and Dimitri Kalinin. Even Scott Gomez and Chris Drury have been rumored to be on the block. Still, The Rangers would most like to unload the hefty contracts of Wade Redden or Michal Rozsival, but nobody is likely to want to pick up those contracts. Also, moving a defenseman will further thin-out New York's already depleted blue line. There are more angles to this move than just fitting the Center under the cap.

In the end, Sundin will require about $3 million to play for the rest of the season. The Rangers have a lot of work to do if both sides want this to happen, and I don't know if they'll be able to do it. 

In their favor, however, is the fact that Sundin has not accepted the Canucks offer for months now. If he wanted to play in Vancouver with the Sedins, you would figure he would have signed a long time ago. Clearly it's not about the money for Sundin, it's about The Cup. There's the mark of a true hockey player.

The saga continues...