For years Mats Sundin has always insisted that he wanted to remain a Toronto Maple Leaf. Winning a championship in Toronto mattered most.
On Wednesday, after accepting the Mark Messier Leadership Award at the Stanley Cup Final, while still maintaining his first option was to remain with the Leafs, for the first time he opened the door just a crack at possibly wearing another uniform.
The question came from David Shoalts of the Globe and Mail.
"Mats, given what you said earlier about what happened at the trade deadline, wanting to remain with the Leafs, the journey and all that. Doesn't your decision really come down to playing with the Leafs next season or retiring?" asked Shoalts.
Sundin delayed for a second, before replying:
"I don't know. I do think that I have a lot of different options I can explore. And I think I still (maintain) that I want to end my career as a Toronto Maple Leaf. Saying that, though, the way the situation is right now, I don't have everything in my control, either. There's got to be a mutual agreement there.
"At this point, I don't have anything I can say about what's going to happen next year personally. I don't know."
This is change in a matter of a few months. You wonder if it is related to the uncertainty in the Maple Leaf front office or that he has no interest in a rebuilding team.
