Mats Sundin? Wait a Minute....

If you have been following the offseason so far, I'm sure you're absolutely disgusted by the Sundin saga. It's the end of August, so he HAS to make his decision soon, right?

A couple weeks ago, someone (I believe it was Eklund, not so sure though) said that the Isles were a darkhorse in the Sundin race. Now, it looks like we have something to back it up.

Darren Dreger of TSN reportedly had an interview with TSN's SportsCentre, in which he said that the final teams in the running for Sundin were the Rangers, the Islanders, the Flyers, and the Maple Leafs. If he would not go to one of those teams, he would retire. I'm not so sure what happened to the Canucks' 10 million dollar offer to Sundin, but apparently they are out of the race, after saying previously that they have a Plan B if they can't get Sundin.

Last night, Dreger made a post on TSN.ca, giving an update on the Sundin race. Here's the quote that jumps out: "At least six teams have continually expressed interest in signing the unrestricted free agent, with the New York Islanders described as a dark-horse based on Garth Snow's persistence to keep his team in the mix."

I know what you're saying. Link? Link please? Fine, here.

Of course, the Isles are in desperate need of a number 1 center. But in the midst of a rebuild, would it really make any sense to get a 37-year-old superstar? I'm sure many Isles fans would love to have him, rebuilding or not. The Isles have the cap space to do it, with roughly 13 million left right now. So if Snow can pull this off, it would be fantastic.

But what would motivate Mats to sign here? I'm pretty sure he would want to be on a contender, so Long Island is probably not the best place. But he has said he likes it here in New York. Although, that makes it seem logical for him to go to the Rangers, who are rumored to be trying to trade Scott Gomez to the Canucks, in hopes of grabbing Sundin.

Still, the Isles' $13,000,000 is most money left out of these 4 teams. The Rangers having just $715,000 left, the Flyers, who are over $1,000,000 OVER the cap, and the Maple Leafs, who have about $6,000,000 left. If Sundin is focused on money, then the Isles will get their shot.

We'll see. Snow has done some odd things in his time has the Isles GM, so you never know what he will do. But just the fact that he is trying and trying to stay in this race, makes me think that he wants to be winning and rebuilding coincidentally.



If you take a look at the link I gave a little while ago, it also mentions that the Isles are in a race for Mathieu Schnieder, which I had made a post about a month ago. Dreger's article reads, "Vancouver is in the market for a defenceman and a centre and sources indicate Anaheim Ducks veteran Mathieu Schneider is a prime target. However, the Islanders, L.A. Kings and Montreal Canadiens are also interested in Schneider, who will be moved to clear space for the signing of Teemu Selanne."

I'd think that Schneider would be a nice fit, but I would hate to see what we'd have to give in that trade, since we are stacked on defesemen.

One more note. That McCabe rumor has very little chance right now, as he appears to be headed to the Panthers. Remember that losing McCabe will give the Maple Leafs 5 million dollars of more cap space, which could help them get Sundin.

I hope you had the patience to read through this. If you made it through, thanks. Sorry about making this post so long.