That's the big question amongst hockey fans, pundits and bloggers heading into the dog days of summer.

With former Toronto Maple Leafs captain Mats Sundin the only big fish remaining in a rapidly drying up UFA pond, the question of "What Will Sundin Do?" is starting to dominate the off-season NHL news just as the uncertainty over the future plans of fellow Swedish star Peter Forsberg did last summer.

Unlike Forsberg, dogged by uncertainty over the status of his surgically repaired right foot (which continues to hamper him to this day and could result in his retirement), Sundin proved last season that at 37 he's still physically and mentally capable to be among the top forwards in the NHL.

Little wonder then that at one point five teams - the Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, Vancouver Canucks, New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings - were considered the leading bidders for his services when this summer's unrestricted free agent market opened on July 1st.

Sundin still has the ability to make a bad team good, a good team very good and a very good team a Cup contender.

He's also someone who, at this point in his long career, isn't going to be rushed or pushed into making a decision about his future.

Some critics have unjustly taken Sundin to task, stupidly suggesting that he's "stringing those teams along", that he should make a decision quickly and in the meantime apologize to the clubs bidding for his services for his foot-dragging.

Last time I checked, Sundin is what's called an "unrestricted free agent", meaning he doesn't owe any team an explanation, an apology or any damn thing. He owes it to himself to make the right decision for his future and if he wants to take the entire summer to think about his future plans that's his right as an unrestricted free agent, a right he's more than earned.

If teams like the Red Wings and Rangers decide they don't want to wait for Sundin and opt instead to spend their available cap space on other players, that's their business, not his.

Sure, it narrows the number of potential destinations for Sundin, but he's been around long enough to know what the consequences could be for his actions. If he were that concerned about it, he would've signed with a team by now.

Quite frankly, as more than one scribe has suggested, we don't even know if Sundin wants to play next season or not. He could decide after seventeen seasons that he just doesn't want to put himself through the punishment anymore.

Retirement is a possibility, but the consensus of observers suggests he could be back for at least one or two more seasons.

Right now only three teams - the Vancouver Canucks, Montreal Canadiens and the Maple Leafs - appear to be in the running for his services.

The Canucks are in a bit of a rebuilding mode with a new general manager in Mike Gillis and a need to bolster their offensive production as that was a significant contributing factor (along with injuries to their blueline corps and personal distractions for goalie Roberto Luongo) to their missing the playoffs last season.

With a focused Luongo and a healthier blueline the Canucks should make the playoffs but if they're to be more than a marginal playoff team they need a scoring star like Sundin.  

What makes them attractive is they've placed the biggest bid on the table (two years, $20 million), fellow countrymen Mattias Ohlund and the Sedin Twins would be his teammates and the 2010 Winter Olympics are being held there, where Sundin could be captaining the defending Olympic champion Swedish team.

Of these three teams the Canadiens could be Sundin's best opportunity to play for a Stanley Cup contender.

 The Habs made significant improvement last season, finishing first overall in the Eastern Conference for the first time in 19 years. They're deep in rising young talent, and Sundin's potential linemates would be experienced offensive forwards Alex Kovalev and Alex Tanguay.

But the Canadiens probably won't offer more than $8 million per season at best, and it's also possible Sundin might not be comfortable suiting up for the Habs after spending his entire NHL career playing for two of their arch-rivals in Quebec City and Toronto.

Then there's the Maple Leafs, who also couldn't out-bid the Canucks and don't have the enticement of Cup contention like the Canadiens but do have familiarity on their side, given that Sundin played most of his NHL career as a Leaf.

Leafs management have said they'd bring him back, even with a movement clause, but it's also possible there could be some bruised feelings after the club tried to pressure him to waive his movement clause last February.

So what will Sundin do?

Your guess is as good as mine, but don't be surprised if we're still asking that question by the end of August.