Neither Maple Leaf fans nor management should be upset that Mats Sundin refused to waive his no trade clause. He's just exercising his contractual rights.

Judging by the reaction of some fans, management and media, Mats Sundin has completely ruined the Toronto Maple Leafs’ rebuilding plans. They’re demanding he be punished, stripped of his captaincy, run out of town covered in tar and feathers or maybe even worse.

But why? His loyalty to the Maple Leafs should be considered commendable – Ridiculously misplaced, perhaps, but commendable.

Sundin Not Responsible For Current State of Maple Leafs

Mats Sundin is not responsible for the current state of the Maple Leafs. True, in his 13 years in the Blue and White, he’s never led the Leafs to a Stanley Cup. That only puts him in the company of every other Leaf captain of the last 40 years – Keon (remember, George Armstrong captained the last Leaf Cup winner), Sittler, Vaive and Clark to name a few. Nobody’s calling any of those guys slouches.

Neither is Sundin responsible for fixing the Leafs. Among all the obligations in his contract, none require him to make trades, draft choices or perform any other function of a general manager.

Sundin is only responsible for performing at a level commensurate with his remuneration. That he’s done over his entire Leaf career. In fact, Sundin is arguably the most talented Leaf ever. Look at the numbers: 1st in goals, 1st in points, 17 straight years of scoring 20 goals or more, 8 All Star appearances, 15 career overtime goals which ties him for the NHL record with Jaromir Jagr.

But all that isn’t enough. Now, Sundin is being called disloyal for refusing to waive his no trade clause.

Fans Forget That Pro Athletes Are Mercenaries

Pro athletes are highly-paid commodities, mercenaries if you will. The only control they have over their own destinies is what they can negotiate into their contracts.

Sundin was able to negotiate a no-movement clause. It must have had some value to him or he wouldn’t have bothered inserting it. Obviously, Leaf management couldn’t come up with enough incentive for him to waive it.

Besides, it’s not like Sundin is alone on the Leafs. Thomas Kaberle, Darcy Tucker and Bryan McCabe all have similar contract stipulations. Why isn’t anyone on their cases for refusing to accept trades? Could it be that those stiffs couldn’t fetch squat on the open market?

The final knock on Sundin is that he’s passing up a chance to win the Stanley Cup. Interim Leaf GM Cliff Fletcher has gone on record as saying every serious contender was interested in Sundin. Fans and commentators love to say that every Canadian kid grows up dreaming of Stanley Cup glory. The implication being that Sundin is, therefore, some kind of lesser man for passing up that opportunity.

Sundin Has Plenty of Baubles Already

But Sundin has won the World Hockey Championship and an Olympic gold medal. Those are both bigger deals in Sweden than Stanley Cups. Besides, to return to the mercenary analogy, why would he want to leave the cushy confines of employment in Leafland?

NHL players are paid from the beginning to the end of the regular season. They are not paid salary for the playoffs. That’s like donating 2 months of free labour if your team makes it to the final, which, of course, doesn’t happen in Toronto. Summer vacation usually starts in early April. Heck, that’s a better deal than teachers get. Who in their right mind would give that up?

In the end, Sundin can’t win. As captain, he should be lauded for wanting to go down with his sinking ship. Instead, everyone thinks he should be first into the lifeboat.

Leaf fans should be thanking Sundin for all he’s done for them over the years. Instead, they hate him for wanting to stay. Go figure.