Mats Sundins agent JP Barry stated yesterday(July 30) that the teams in persuit of free agent Mats Sundin has gone up. What was only 3 teams has now become 4 or 5.

"4 or 5 teams are really waiting on his decision."

Were Barry's words. As it now stands the teams that i have herd about are:

Montreal, Vancouver, Toronto, New York Rangers, Ottawa, and one of the four possible teams: Pheonix, Edmonton, NY Islanders, and Philly.

Mats has until tomorrow(August 1st) to decide if he wants to resume his playing career

Today it was reported that New York Rangers star goalie Henrik Lundqvist signed a 6 year, 39million dollar contract with the rangers.

Last week Flames up and coming star defensemen Dion Phaneuf signed a wealthy contract.

The point is, this seasons UFA list is starting to shorten. most of the big intrests this season are starting to lock up with their respective teams(Dumont, Phaneuf, Lundqvist).

with big names like Mats Sundin, Marian Hossa, Rob Blake, Adam Foote, and Brian Cambell still unsigned for next season, and only 2 weeks to the nhl trade deadline, the frenzy is about to kick into high gear.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are definitly struggling this season as we all know. But is this struggle the result of the players? Or the result of poor coaching. Personally i think Paul Maurice is an excellent coach as he proved in Carolina. I just dont think Maurice is what the Maple Leafs need at this time.

The leafs havnt been living up to their full potential since Maurice joined the club. Flashback: Pat Quinn. With Quinn behind the bench the leafs made playoff appearences almost every season. As soon as Maurice shows up, the leafs deteriorate.

MORALE OF THE BLOG: LEAFS NEED A NEW COACH. IMMEDIATLY.

this is only my second blog so please dont expect alot from me.

in one of spectors recent articles it states that atlanta thrashers forward marian hossa is most likly on the move. his idea is probably what will happen, but there still is the chance that the thrashers will resign hossa, and if so he will probably be remaining in atlanta for at an estimated 3 to 6 years. my opinion, the odds are 60:40 that hossa gets moved.

in the same article, spector stated that the detroit red wings and the vancouver canucks both have intrest in toronto maple leafs forward mats sundin. mats is the leafs best player and putting aside piles of trade rumors, i think sundin will remain in toronto for the remainder of his career. not only is he the leafs best player(so it would obviously be outragious to trade him) but he still has his no-trade clause. sundin has stated that he would like to remain in toronto, but if he really wanted to help his club he would let the leafs trade him for a good player or 2 and a first round pick and maybe a second round pick. then he could come back to the leafs if he wanted. the odds of sundin being traded in my opinion, 50:50

finally columbus blue jackets veteran defenseman adam foote. foote has been a sucessful blue liner for most of his career and would be a great addition for teams like chicago and carolina who are in desperate search for a expierienced blue liner. foote is definitly a hot UFA this season and will likly be traded before his contract expires on july 1st. the odds of foote being moved, 70:30 that he goes.

im new to the blog scene but i do have some strong opinions of the rumors about the toronto maple leafs trading center mats sundin

as their best player sundin has served as captain since '97 and has led his team in points and goals every year since. the rumors of john ferguson jr. trading him are unlikely, seeing as how sundin has his "no trade-clause" and can waive them, an article i read early stated that sundin would like to remain with toronto for the remainder of his career, would will likly extend to another season.

besides, how long is ferguson going to be the leafs gm if they keep playing like this? my opinion is ferguson has brought in plenty of skill players such as jason blake and vesa toskala. one thing i think hes doing wrong is trading away first round picks every time the draft rolls around. i will admit trading his first round pick in the 2007 draft for vesa toskala and mark bell was a good move seening as how the outstanding play of vesa toskala has kept them atleast in 13 and not 15 in the conference. jason blake in my opinion is over payed for what he has been demonstrating this season, last year he scored 40 goals and this so far this year he has not even come close to that.

the problem in toronto may lay in the hands of none other then head coach paul maurice. toronto has plenty of skill players but due to poor coaching staff the buds havnt been able to release the true potential the team holds.

another thing i wanted to get to was the extremely poor play of leafs back up andrew raycroft. raycroft has had a terrible season. last nights game in LA didnt bring up his GAA or wins total anymore, when he was pulled in the first period for letting in 4 goals on 11 shots. if ferguson was a smart GM, he would move raycroft and NOT sundin.

so my conclusion to this blog, if the leafs organization was smart they would do 4 things.

1. DO NOT DUMP SUNDIN

2. fire ferguson

3. fire maurice

4. PLEASE DUMP ANDREW RAYCROFT

i hope you enjoyed this blog, have a great day!