Mats Sundin, Broadway Bound? What the New York Rangers Would Have to Do

Reminiscing over the summer of 2008 while August dwindles away, we wait for the big fish of NHL Free Agency to finally be caught. 

Despite being offered a two-year, $12-million dollar contract by the Vancouver Canucks', Mats Sundin still remains on the open market. 

The possibility of playing for the NHL’s most storied franchise, the Montreal Canadiens, in their Centennial season is not worth taking a nibble at, in the eyes of Sundin.

But it is speculated that he lurks in the murky waters of the Hudson, awaiting his shot to take the bait and play under the bright lights of Broadway.

When taking a look at the New York Rangers' salary cap situation, one might laugh at the suggestion that the Rangers could fit Sundin under the $56.7-million salary cap. But I can assure you, Rangers' General Manager Glen Sather has been working the phone for weeks in order to find a possible suitor to take on salary. 

I am sure Glen has thought out multiple scenarios.  The easiest route would be to trade recently re-signed defenceman Michael Rozsival.  But the more you put it into perspective, this scenario does not make sense. Trading the $5 million salary of Rozsival is difficult even though he was sought after when he hit the open market in July. 

If Sather did not want Rozsival, he would have simply passed on giving him a four-year contract. This suggests the job of Michael Rozsival is safe going into training camp.

So who can the Rangers trade in order to acquire Mats Sundin? Anchorage, Alaska native Scott Gomez.

Blasphemy when one first considers the scenario—but think again. The New York Rangers have a plethora of young players at center who could one day be a number-one caliber guy—Dubinsky, Fritsche, Anisimov, and Moore—and are still a bit thin on the wings when it comes to first- and second-line talent.

Trading Gomez could potentially net the Rangers a young scoring winger who makes a minimal amount of money.  Shedding the $7.35 million annual salary of Gomez over the next six years opens the door for future possibilities.

Sundin would most likely be a Ranger for two seasons. Are the Rangers worse off with Sundin in the lineup than Gomez? With Gomez as a Ranger, the they will never be able to acquire a big time scoring winger in order to compliment him, due to salary cap constraints.

So is it worth keeping two centers—Drury and Gomez—who make a combined $14.4 million when a good percentage of the Rangers' wingers only hold third- and fourth-line talent?

Could Sundin help recently acquired winger Nikolai Zherdev like he assisted Nik Antropov in Toronto? This, folks, is the million-dollar question.

The line has been cast.  It's just a matter of time before it drifts and catches this Swedish fish.

Note: This article has nothing to do with the Eklund nonsense.  I thought of this scenario before his article. I am just speculating on a possible scenario if in fact the Rangers feel they need Sundin. I do feel, with the roster the Rangers have now, they are a playoff team. Who knows what management is thinking?

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?