Mats Sundin Expected to Make Decision Thursday

The Vancouver Canucks management team could potentially rest easy later this week, as it was announced by general Manager Mike Gillis today that Mats Sundin will make a decision on his future by Thursday of this week. 

Should Sundin choose the Rangers—the only somewhat likely choice at this point—then Gillis could be awake for the rest of the season wondering how this tireless effort for Mats Sundin went wrong. 

At the very least, after Thursday the Canucks will be able to move forward and focus on whats really important this season.

According to NHL.com Gillis remains very confident.

"We feel good about our team and where we sit and what we have to offer, and we'll see how it plays out," said Gillis. 

At this point it appears to have come down to a two-horse race between the Canucks and their old cup rivals the New York Rangers. 

Could Broadway deal the Canucks another devastating blow? 

At this stage, the way the Sundin saga has gone anything is possible.  It will come down to what exactly Mats Sundin is looking for, and that is impossible to tell. 

The Canucks are still the best positioned team to get him as they have plenty of cap space and would relish the chance to get the top line center. 

He would fill a huge void on their power play, which has been dismal of late, and could work well with former teammate Kyle Wellwood. 

The question is does Sundin want to play for the cup, the money, in Canada, or what? 

For my money, you could make a case that if it came down to any of those reasons, then Sundin should pick Vancouver. 

I know the Rangers have all the talent and big name guys on paper, but put Sundin on the Canucks team and anything could happen. 

If Roberto Luongo is able to get back early that would help the cup chances. If you get Sundin and Luongo in the mix, and a healthy blue-line which is as solid as any in the league, than this Canucks team can very well make a Stanley Cup run. 

Should Sundin choose the Rangers, would he really fit in well there?  The Rangers are a force no doubt and Sundin is used to the travel out East, but what kind of role would he play on a Rangers team stacked with talent? 

Chris Drury and Scott Gomez have already solidified their place as the centers for the top two lines. Are you gonna pay Sundin millions of dollars to play third line shifts? Sure, he'd be great on power play, but are they gonna take off Markus Naslund, or Drury, or Gomez to put him on it? Or even Zherdev, with the season he's having? 

Sundin would maybe have a better shot at the Cup on Broadway, but would he get to play at all?

The Rangers will need to make some moves to have cap space to fit Sundin in first and then we'd have to see. 

The Canucks are a very good team though, and with a couple of pieces, would have a shot at making a run. 

So for now, the Canucks and Rangers await Thursday with anticipation of what could be a great reward.