From Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette:
TSN’s Bob McKenzie, who has as good a handle on these things as anyone in the media, believes Sundin will wait until he becomes an unrestricted free agent on July 1 before he makes a decision, and that’s not good news for the Canadiens.
If Sundin were interested in playing for Montreal, there would be no reason to wait unless he was hoping the Canadiens would sweeten the pot in terms of salary or the length of a contract. Waiting makes sense for Sundin. We already know the New York Rangers have expressed interest in him, although they were not willing to make a deal for the exclusive negotiating rights. Sundin will be in a better bargaining position if the number of suitors increases.
Read the entire article here.
Waiting until July 1st isn’t a good sign for the Habs; however, it does not necessarily mean that Sundin isn’t interested in playing there. Sundin may just want to guage the market when free agency hits and then make his decision based on the offers and interest he recieves. I don’t think his decision will be based on annual salary and term as much as it will be based on how close a team is to winning the Cup.
