Sundin gets call for Leafs’ stars to take less for team

Mats Sundin isn’t surprised the Toronto Maple Leafs are asking their young stars to make a financial sacrifice to stay together.

The way the team’s former captain sees it, that’s simply the nature of the business.

“I think (it happens) in every negotiation for all players in the league,” Sundin said with a laugh at an NHL Alumni Association event Monday night.

But the salary cap crunch the Leafs could face if Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander all max out their dollar value is no laughing matter. In a somewhat unusual public declaration earlier this month, Leafs president Brendan Shanahan indicated the team would request the talented forwards to take less money on their next deals in order to fit everyone under the cap.

Nylander, a restricted free agent, is currently mired in a contract impasse that dragged through the summer, into training camp and is now approaching the 10-game mark of Toronto’s season.

The 22-year-old winger, who is coming off back-to-back 61-point campaigns, and the Leafs are reportedly as much as $2 million (all figures U.S.) apart on a longterm deal, with Nylander’s camp thought to be asking for around $8 million annually and Toronto countering in the $6-million range.

Matthews and Marner, both 21, can become restricted free agents next summer and are also in talks with the team on new contracts that, barring something unforeseen, will exceed whatever Nylander eventually gets.

“For Nylander and the Maple Leafs, you hope that the whole situation’s going to settle,” said Sundin, who played 13 seasons in Toronto. “(The Leafs) have a great, young group of players right now that are going to be able to compete and be one of the best teams in the league for a long time. Hopefully he can join the team and they can settle that.”

NHL Alumni Association executive director Glenn Healy said the comments made by Shanahan, who referenced that he and a number of star players with the Detroit Red Wings took less money to stay together during their championship years, need to be put in proper context.

“I would say this: When Brendan played, there was no salary cap. So there was no taking less, you just took what you got, you took what the club budgeted,” said Healy, who played goalie in the NHL for 15 seasons. “It’s a different world now. We didn’t have a salary cap back then. We had, ‘Take what you were worth.’”

And what advice would Healy give a player in Nylander’s position today?

“I would never say, ‘Take less than you’re worth,’” he said. “Take more than you’re worth. Set the bar high.”

Sundin, 47, who now lives back home in Sweden with his wife and three children, was in Toronto for the NHL Alumni Association’s gala celebration where he was one of three recipients of the Keith Magnuson Men of the Year Award along with countrymen Nicklas Lidstrom and Borje Salming. He said he’s been keeping a close eye on the Leafs.

“It’s great as a former player and former captain for the fans and the city to have such a great, young team that are going to be great for a long time,” Sundin said.

His advice to this generation as their potential championship window opens is to enjoy the ride.

“If you’re playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs and you’re competing for a Stanley Cup, I wouldn’t want to be in any other city having that chance,” Sundin said. “The Toronto Maple Leafs is the team where you want to win.”