So why is Mats always smiling? Well, over the course of his NHL career, Mats Sundin has earned somewhere in excess of $68 million, almost all of it with the Leafs.
Supposedly Leaf management and Sundin are tearing up his option and working out a new deal (which is allowed under the collective agreement). Now at every opportunity Mats re-iterates that his goal is to end his career here in Toronto and win a Stanley Cup.
As I see it, he has his chance to put his money where his mouth is.
The deal is straightforward. Sundin gives up the $5.3 million option on his deal for next year, one that carries a $6.3 million salary hit against the cap. In return he will likely get more money - maybe $5.8 million for each of perhaps 2 years, giving the club a bit of a break on the cap. So he make $500,000 more but the teams saves $500,000 on the cap.
But if Sundin is really serious about helping the team win the Cup, he could take a much bigger pay cut, and in so doing help the Leafs sign more quality players this summer. Let's say he agreed to $1.5 million a year. That would free up $4.8 million for the club to spend on another player. A pretty good player.
Or he can free up a piddly $500,000 that buys you a broken down has-been
.
A large pay cut would be spectacular goodwill on Sundin's part, but not totally without precedent. Last year Martin Brodeur signed a six-year deal with the Devils that pays him $5.2 million per season. A pretty good deal for the best goalie on the planet.
If you recall in 2003, Paul Kariya absorbed the single largest pay cut in the NHL history when he agreed to a one-year, $1.2 million deal with Colorado after making $10 million the previous season with Anaheim. Kariya wanted to play with Teemu Selanne in Denver and there were only so many dollars available in the pre-cap era, and so he helped the Avalanche make it happen.
So how much does Sundin want to help the Leafs? He probably doesn't need the money and a Cup ring would look good on his finger.
