Canadian Press reports that the Vancouver Canucks have offered Mats Sundin a two-year contract worth $20 million. Number 13 has spent the last 13 years of his 18-year career with the Toronto Maple Leafs, a team with which he’s set countless club records.
Should Sundin accept the deal, he would become the league’s highest-paid player, surpassing all-star Alexander Ovechkin and NHL poster boy Sidney Crosby, both of whom will earn approximately $9 million next year.
The 37 year-old Swede is expected, if he signs with Vancouver, to be a leader to both Henrik and Daniel Sedin, twin brothers who have been dubbed The Swedish Connection.
In addition to the Canucks, Sundin does have a few other options; the Maple Leafs offered him $7 million over two years and the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers have both expressed explicit interest.
In lieu of all the offers, Sundin recently said that he needs more time to decide whether or not he will even return to the NHL next year.
However, with an offer like Vancouver’s, and an opportunity to play for a team where he would be instrumental in developing more Swedish talent, he just might accept.
Even so, one thing Sundin does value is winning and at 37 years-old, he has yet to play in the Stanley Cup Finals. A key factor in his decision on whether or not to sign with the Canucks will be his degree of confidence in the team’s likelihood to reach the Stanley Cup Finals before the end of the decade.
Does Sundin believe the Canucks can reach the Cup Finals by 2010 under his leadership?
We’ll see.
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