Sundin Stay a Leaf

Mats Sundin has decided NOT to waive his no trade clause and stay with the Maple Leafs. Let's just hope he re-signs next year to another one (or two) year deal so that Toronto fans can still benefit from his ability and leadership as the team re-builds.

I'm sure there's a lot of fans doing the AM call-in shows saying that Mats is being selfish, and perhaps even suggesting that if he was truly loyal to the blue and white that he should have waived the clause and went somewhere for a couple of prospects or picks. Well I'm not so sure if I agree with that. The hockey world is a small world. Any time GMs talk, there is inevitable some information which passes down to the masses. Fletcher, asked Mats if he would waive his no-trade clause and asked Mats for a list of teams he would agree on being traded to (standard fare in these cases). It could be that the teams Mats short listed were not the teams contacting Fletcher; It could be that Mats evaluated a potential deal on the table and thought it wasn't right (or maybe Fletcher did); It could be a lot of things, but one thing it most certainly is, is Mats actually likes it here in Toronto!!

The Leafs have had a horrid track record in drafting players anyway over the past 20 to 30 years maybe even longer. On average we've been drafting 1 player per year who has had an OK NHL career, and we'd have to go back to the 1996 draft year when a young Tomas Kaberle was picked 204th overall to find an exceptional player drafted by Toronto. Funny thing is though, even scouts and agents agree that finding a diamond in the rough that low in the draft is more about luck than anything else. It could be that scouts never even went to see Kaberle play in the Czech Republic and simply picked him based the CS notes. Anyway, the point of all that is simply would two or three prospects and picks in the hands of Maple Leafs scouts be worthwhile for having Sundin leave the team? I think not.

Now, people will compare what Atlanta gets for Hossa or TB gets for Richards as comparible to what Toronto would have received for Mats - well guess what, that's not necessarily true. In fact there's certain economic law which would suggest otherwise. A little Adam Smith diddy called "Supply and Demand". The supply of talented 'rental' players has now decreased significantly, therefore the prices paid by teams for the remaining players will also increase significantly. Very simple, with Mats off the market it's not saturated with players. Had Hossa been traded and Mats was still on the market perhaps the asking price for Mats would have increased, but that would have eliminated one of the Sundin suitors negating a pro-longed bidding war and could have in fact decreased the value paid for Sundin by eliminating some demand for the product. So, if any team were to get a raw deal when moving a star player it sure would be the Leafs.

In this case, we wouldn't have gotten enough for him had he waived his no trade clause (certainly not what Mats is worth) and even if we did get picks they probably wouldn't pan out anyway (because we can't draft). At the very least, we still have Mats and there's nothing wrong with that.