| 20 Million About Right |
 As Mats Sundin sits in his home in Sweden analyzing Vancouver's whopping 2 year, $20-million offer, Canucks Fanz columnist Shaheed Devji does the same. Shaheed Devji is the host, and co-founder of The Press Box, an online sports page where you can listen to and be entertained by honest sports opinions. Check out http://www.thepressbox.org. Originally published at: http://www.thepressbox.org By Canucks Fanz Columnist: Shaheed Devji Vancouver Canucks General Manager Mike Gillis shocked the hockey world yesterday when he offered unrestricted free agent centre Mats Sundin a whopping 2-year 20 million dollar contract to play with the Canucks. What was shocking to most - obviously - was the fact that the contract would make Sundin the highest paid player in the NHL. With the new contract Sundin, on average, would be making more than the likes of Sidney Crosby, Alexandre Ovechkin and even more than Evgeni Malkin’s new $8.75 million contract. Many Canucks fans see $10 million a year for Sundin, 37, as too much and they don’t believe that he’s worth it. And hey, if Crosby isn’t making $10 then how can the former Leafs’ centre be worth? However in the new NHL, under the salary cap era the league has slowly been evolving to a one that does not pay its players according to their league-wide worth but rather based on their worth to the team. The Canucks are in desperate need of a first line or second line center that will help them become more of an offensive threat. Mats Sundin is undoubtedly the best UFA that fits that bill and Mike Gillis knowing full well that other teams would be interested in the star center, offered him a deal that he (hopefully) could not deny. What Gillis has done is that he has not offered Sundin what he is worth as a player but what he is worth to the Canucks organization. Gillis, by outbidding to all other teams, has made it clear that he wants Sundin the most and has now put himself in the best position to acquire the player he targeted. Many would argue that the pricetag is still too much. However if Gillis lands Sundin and can still carry out the plan that he had (i.e. adding grit, character and scoring through bold and aggressive moves) and end up under the cap, then ultimately he has not paid too much. On Wednesday, Sundin announced that he needed more time to decide whether he wants to continue his NHL career let alone consider the bushel of offers that he received on Tuesday. So although Gillis and the Canucks have put the ball in Sundin’s court by offering him a contract that he would be daft to deny, that does not mean that they have overpaid - or tried to - and tied their own hands financially. In fact it may mean that they go from pretender to contender.                |