Mats Sundin Will Land Where ?

Former Maple Leafs captain Mats Sundin , did you hear that Leaf fans ?  I said former because Sundin is done, he is not coming back period. Brian Burke has the balls to finally say what Cliff Fletcher wouldn’t say politically all summer long. There was never a chance that Sundin was going to return to Toronto, why would he?  It’s a rebuilding team and as good as he played last season he couldn’t get them over the top. I like Sundin he has been a great Maple Leaf Captain and he consistently over the years led the team in points. His sweater should hang in the rafters one day with the Leafs, just based on his pure skill and how he carried himself with class. But here is where I turn the page on Sundin and tell Leaf fans what they may not want  to hear or agree with.

Canadian Born Captain

The truth is whether you want to here it or not the Leafs were never going to win with Sundin as Captain, as good as he was . This is not the popular thing to say but it’s the truth.  Sundin the Swedish born  Captain of  the hockey club equals no Stanley Cup in Toronto. Toronto to win needs a born and bred good old Canadian kid as Captain for several reasons.  Look, I realize that Sundin could if surrounded with the right amount of support may have been able to get it done in Toronto especially in those years with Doug Gilmour and then Gary Roberts, they had teams that were close. I’m not saying a team can’t win with a European Captain obviously look at Lidstrom in Detroit. However what I am saying is, this is Canada,  this is Toronto and they need a player like Jerome Iginla as their next Captain. Gritty Canadian kid who will wear the sweater with pride, compete and help boost the image of the Maple Leafs. Burke I will guarantee you, is thinking that exact same thing for this summer when he retools the roster and builds the team to his liking.

Sundin’s Choices

What should Sundin do besides hurry up and make his move, sign and start playing ?

Sundin’s options appear to be , the Rangers , the Canadians , the Canucks , the Hawks. Let’s examine where Sundin will end up. The Rangers have his buddy Marcus Naslund in the Big Apple and its the city where for  whatever reason Sundin is telling people he has always wanted to play in. The Canucks made the biggest offer with the new GM Mike Gillis trying to make a splash on the open market. This past summer making Sundin a two year twenty million dollar offer. Guess what Canucks fans, he would have been your Captain. If you are a Nucks fan you should be happy that Sundin is not coming there , use that  money  to add a player or two at the deadline and you will still have cap room next summer to add another top end player. The Canucks under Gillis are proving that if your team works hard and plays a gritty style with great goaltending you can surprise people,  which the Canucks have done so far this season. In the end Gillis will be happy by default that Sundin never took him up on the offer which was far to much money to tie up for Sundin anyways. Do you really want your top 3 players in playoffs to be Swedes ? I know that sounds a little bit like Don Cherry but guess what,  you don’t want that if you want a chance at the cup. Picking up at the trade deadline a top 6 player with grit to balance out the two Sedins would be the better move for playoffs.

The Habs on the other hand are out and here is why , it’s simple really Sundin wants to be remembered in Toronto as a great Maple Leaf captain and going to the Habs would taint his reputation forever in Toronto. The Hawks are too young and don’t have enough of a legit chance to win for Sundin to go there. If what he is saying is true that money means nothing and  the chance to win the cup is the only thing.

So that brings us back to the Rangers who despite having to make cap room, will make the room for Sundin and bring him in to play with Naslund. They may have some success when Sundin gets his legs out from under him and into game shape with putting up points. But it won’t work, the Rangers in the end  will not win a Cup with this move .

So Gillis ends up further ahead for the best move he never made , he lands with all that cap room a North American type player or two that helps build his team for playoffs. Hey no one can blame Gillis for trying to make that splash , the decision to hire him was not a popular one at the time, until the team started to reel off wins putting Gillis in the drivers seat. We Will have a much more in depth article on Gillis in the coming weeks.

NHL General Manager Salaries

With the recent signing of Brian Burke in Toronto , General Managers salaries are becoming a hot topic in hockey circles. Its generally considered taboo to even mention what a GM makes in the NHL running the hockey clubs where they pay out millions in player salaries yearly.

Just how much are GM’s making in the NHL ?  Well it may surprise you to know that other than a select few,  the salaries are relatively low compared to players salaries and hockey in general.

Burke who with out question just took over the top paid GM in the NHL with what is considered to be approximately between $2.7 to $ 3 million per year. That contract for 6 seasons will be full of performance bonuses with out a doubt.

Glen Sather makes  a reported $2.5 million a year to run or should I say try to run the Rangers. The best thing Sather has done since arriving in New York is hire Tom Renney as coach and leave him alone. Other than that Sather the old GM in the Edmonton Oiler heydays is long long gone ! Sather the cigar chomping, cocky ,over spending GM has done zero else with New York. Bringing in Mark Messier to start grooming him for the GM’s job,  for my money would be the better move in New York. You know how there are always charts out there for players and if the teams are getting the bang for the buck with regards to there contract status and performance ? Well if that was done with GM Sather,  it would not come out looking very good in New York year after year. Ranger fans you are not getting the bang for the buck with the current GM.

In New Jersey  GM Lou Lamoriello who has been there since the 1987-88 season has a secret society. Meaning nothing happens in New Jersey with out his knowledge and believe me I found out first hand over the years with some of our battles, he likes to have his hand in everything that goes on no matter how big or small. Lou’s salary is thought to be around the $2 million dollar a year mark but some say he has % of the hockey club built into his contract to run the Devils.

Detroit GM Kenny Holland who’s team has the best European scout in the league who continuously picks off great top end players for Detroit, restocking the shelf yr after yr. I hope they are paying him well! Hollands team which won the Stanley Cup last season makes in the neighborhood of $1.4 million per year.

Okay so those salaries should not surprise anyone. But GM salaries surprisingly start around the $650 thousand mark and up including bonuses for playoffs. There are several others GM’s that are likely in the millions too . Jim Rutherford has been with the same owner for years now and would be up in those salary amounts with out question naming just one.

I believe, but the GM’s won’t agree, that just as the player salaries are made public so that they can be scrutinized on salary vs performance every year. So should the coaches , management salaries be open publicly,  for that same scrutiny to take place for them too.

For hockey god online I’m Dave Frost

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008 at 2:08 am and is filed under Frost on Ice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.