A Swedish newspaper reported he was set to sign with Vancouver, then his agent denied the claim. Another Swedish newspaper conducted a poll asking fans where they think the free agent centre will wind up, and the results were strongly in the Maple Leafs' favour, at 37 per cent. Will he return? Will he retire? Will he sign elsewhere? It's all about Mats Sundin.

Personally, I think Mats Sundin makes us too good. I love the guy, I think he's a class act with a boatload of skill and loyal to a fault, but I've got my heart set on a 30 win season and #13 will make us a tad too competitive.

Still, I suspect The Mats will announce his return as some point this summer and he'll retire next summer as a Toronto Maple Leaf. In the meantime, the Toronto media will run with Mats Sundin story after Mats Sundin story giving the people what they want. All Mats, all the time.

That reminds me, I'm due to visit http://www.torontomike.com/countdown.html. 79 days, 7 hours, 13 minutes, and 10 seconds left until the Maple Leafs season opener!

Welcome, Ryan Hollweg, to the worst Maple Leafs team ever. Don't worry, we're okay with a 2008/2009 season of total stinkage. In fact, we're going to have fun with it and give you all funny nicknames.

For you I'm leaning toward Weggy.

I'm no Grabovski expert, but from what I've read this doesn't sound like a bad deal. He's only 24 years old and he apparently has some skill. I just hope he's not another Alexander Suglobov. The Grab will definitely get playing time with the Leafs this season because there's a solid lack of centers once Mats moves on.

At some point maybe we'll add a player people have actually heard of.

I like Mats. He's been our best player since he arrived in 1994 and he's one of the classiest athletes ever to play in this city. No, he hasn't led us to a Stanley Cup final, but neither did Darryl, Wendel or Dougie. Sundin gave his all to this franchise and I say we're lucky to have had him as long as we did.

In addition to not being Canadian, Mats had something else working against him. He's a different kind of cat... a deeper thinker who is very private and very proud. The news today is that he needs more time to think about whether he will play again. Even though teams are throwing big bucks his way, Mats isn't yet sure what he wants and he's going to take some time to figure it out. The man could have signed yesterday for $20M but instead he's motivated by other factors. You have to respect that.

He's an enigma wrapped in a riddle. Whatever he decides, he's got a big fan right here.

No, this isn't as severe an overpayment as The Finger deal, but it's still more coin than Niklas Hagman is worth. It's $3 million a year for four years which means Hagman is due to have his contract bought out at about this time next season.

The 28 year old has played in 481 career NHL games for Dallas and Florida, collecting 80 goals and 85 assists for 165 points. He did score 27 goals last year, a career high, and you know how players coming off career years play when they sign in Toronto.

Again, The Finger deal was far more puzzling than this one, but you've still got to believe the Leafs have overpaid here. To make matters worse, we ought to be avoiding the four year deals like the plague right now, particularly when it comes to the mediocre and unproven.

I hate myself for loving this team.

Don't know much about The Finger? You're not alone, this is from TSN.ca:

Finger, 28, played 72 games with the Colorado Avalanche last season, tallying 19 points and a plus-12 rating. In 94 career NHL games, he has 24 points and a plus-22.

I understand the Toronto Maple Leafs need bodies, but do we really have to give four year deals to 28 year olds with 94 career games under their belts? Admittedly, I can't remember ever seeing him play, so if The Finger is Sylvain Lefebvre reincarnate I shall stand corrected.

In a sense, Uncle Cliffy just gave us The Finger and told Bryan McCabe to f*ck off.

Clearly MLSE is still reading this blog because this afternoon goaltender Curtis Joseph agreed to a one-year deal with his former club.

Welcome back, Cujo.

We're all still hoping Justin Pogge will become a bonafide NHL goalie, but it looks like he'll need another year in the AHL playing for the Marlies. That means the Leafs need a backup to Tosky. Tosky will likely play about 60 games, but who will start the other 22?

I'm endorsing Curtis Joseph to fill that role. Why the hell not? He won't break the bank, he'd love to come back and retire a Maple Leaf and he's still got 22 games left in his 41-year old body.

It's already going to be a long and painful season, at least having Cujo back will give us something to get excited about.

Speaking of next season, http://www.torontomike.com/countdown.html is once again online and counting down the seconds. There are only 102 days, 4 hours, 1 minutes, and 22 seconds left until the Maple Leafs opener against Detroit.

These past few days we've been reading about how Bryan McCabe will never play another game for the Leafs. The Leafs desperately want to trade him, but he won't waive his no-trade clause. He might live on Long Island, but he knows the Leafs are screwed and have to buy him out to get rid of him. The Leafs would have to pay McCabe two-thirds of what he is owed - almost $3-million per season - plus a reported $2-million bonus due on September 15. Uncle Cliffy and the gang don't like the sounds of that.

As a result, it looks like we're in for some hardball. Some reports suggest Uncle Cliffy will order McCabe to stay away from training camp. In essence we'll be paying McCabe not to play in the hopes he'll agree to a trade in the best interest of his career. All of this has Leafs fans burning their McCabe jerseys and begging him to accept a trade. McCabe must be selfish because he's actually asking MLSE to own up to the contract they approved in good faith. JFJ dug this hole but MLSE blessed the transaction. A deal is a deal, right?

As this gets uglier with a guy who covered his defensive lapses with a scoring touch for half a season the blogosphere and fan base will label McCabe a selfish jerk who shouldn't want to play where he's not wanted. This might be true, but we can't blame McCabe. This is the doing of JFJ and MLSE.

I've seen some horrible teams, I remember finishing last in the Norris Division, I remember when Tom Fergus was our best player. I believe the worst is yet to come. I believe our 2008/2009 season is as bad as it seems. I think we're about to witness the worst Maple Leafs season in franchise history.

Let's assume Mats Sundin moves on and Cliff Fletcher continues to trim the fat. Everything is aligned to give us maximum ping pong balls in the John Tavares lottery. Our best centres will be Antropov and Stajan. That's all you need to know about this team. Nik freakin' Antropov and Matt flippin' Stajan. That, my friends, is a last place team.

And get this! I'm okay with sucking large for one more year. Having endured decades without playing in a cup final, I'm happy just knowing competitive seasons lie ahead, even if it means tasting pain in 2008/2009.

Fellow Leaf fans, it's as bad as it seems.

When Steve IM'd me to let me know Tucker was gonzo, he opened with "anyone wanna buy a Tucker jersey?" I proudly wore a Doug Gilmour #93 in the early 90s and I remember when he was traded to New Jersey. It's tough when your jersey player leaves your team.

After the Gilmour incident, I got smart. My new jersey is a Bill Barilko #5. By going classic I don't run the risk that my player will leave. Barilko is a legend. Barilko is forever.

Steve has learnt a valuable lesson. My other brother owns a Bryan McCabe #24. Let's hope he learns a similar lesson.

Two years ago tomorrow, I wrote about the trading of Tuukka Rask for Andrew Raycroft. Here's what I wrote that day in 2006.

When I first read about the deal, I hated it. Rask is only twenty years old and was named the top goaltender of last year's World Junior Championship. Raycroft, on the other hand, had a dismal .879 save percentage last year with a 3.71 goals against average and just eight wins in 30 starts. Yuck.

Can we call a mulligan and get Rask back? Although Raycroft set a franchise record with 37 wins in 72 games two seasons ago, I never felt comfortable with him between the pipes and pleaded with Maurice to start Vesa Toskala on opening night last October. Raycroft had a brutal year, going 2-9-5 the past season with a 3.92 goal-against average and .876 save percentage, last winning a game in November. He had to go and now he's gone.

Wellwood, on the other hand, was supposed to be one of the few bright young lights on this team. He actually had a little skill and showed a great deal of promise, but then his stock plummeted quickly. There were plenty of injuries and a lack of desire on his part. I thought they'd give him another year to turn things around but Uncle Cliffy must be getting emails from Bryan Burke because this is a bold move that actually makes sense.

We need to shake things up around, make drastic changes, and it's nice to see we're not coming back with the same pathetic players. We'll come back with different pathetic players and make a serious run at Tavares.

Most of you probably don't know much about Luke Schenn. Here's a nice little introduction to a guy who's about to feel just a little bit of pressure. Meet Luke Schenn, future Grand Master of the New Jedi Order.

From Wikipedia:

Schenn started his career with the Kelowna Rockets in 2005–06. He was Kelowna's first pick in the 2004 WHL Bantam Draft. Schenn made his WHL debut on September 23, 2005 against the Vancouver Giants. Later in his first season (October 11), he notched his first WHL goal in his hometown against the Saskatoon Blades. He has been an alternate captain for the Rockets for two seasons.

In his brief junior career, Schenn has had the opportunity to play for Canada on several occasions. He was a member of Team Canada at the 2007 Super Series, where he helped Canada go undefeated for eight games against Russia. He also wore the maple leaf at Under 18 World Cup Tournament, where Canada won gold. During the 2007–08 season, Schenn was named to the WHL's roster for its part in the ADT Canada-Russia Challenge.

Says Central Scouting: "Luke can play a mean game and he plays a tough NHL-style defence that is guaranteed to get him a long hard look and career in the National Hockey League."

Toronto Mikie likes it! Use the force, Luke.

First Cito returns, sending us straight back to the glory days in the early 90s, and now comes word from the Maple Leafs that the Montreal Canadiens have been given permission to talk to Toronto captain Mats Sundin. If the Habs work out a deal with Sundin before July 1, we would receive some form of compensation.

Now, I still think Sundin will sign with the Leafs for next season, but let's examine the ramifications if Sundin plays for Montreal in 2008/2009. Remember when Sundin refused to waive his no-trade clause? While many were calling Sundin selfish and demanding he accept a trade to better our future I called him Loyalty Personified. I assumed that loyalty meant Sundin would retire a Leaf.

Mats, if you're reading this, and I'll bet you are, you have two choices: retire or sign for one more year with Toronto. If you're a Hab next season you will not be forgiven for refusing to waive your no-trade clause in February. What I once labelled Loyalty Personified will be rebranded Disloyalty Incarnate.