Sundin stall stiffs Cliff

With Mats Sundin likely making all his suitors wait beyond tonight's midnight free-agent deadline, the Maple Leafs will move ahead and concentrate rebuilding efforts on trades and a lesser-known group of free agents in their late 20s.

General manager Cliff Fletcher will keep the porch light on one more night for Sundin, but likes neither of the options left for him by his indecisive captain. If he waits for Sundin's inner Leaf to emerge later this week, he loses out on first- and second-tier National Hockey League free agents. If he tries to replace him, he will risk overpaying in a seller's market for a limited number of impact centres.

"I haven't got the sense entirely that Mats (won't be a Leaf)," Fletcher said last night. "But you have to make other plans."

He had tried to prod Sundin by giving the Montreal Canadiens exclusive rights to negotiate a trade before tonight, a move that would have given the Leafs some kind of return if Sundin signed. But Sundin's agent, J.P. Barry, e-mailed the Montreal media last night to tell them Sundin hadn't made up his mind about playing at all, trying not to offend GM Bob Gainey's efforts to sell the Swede on the division champion Habs.

One report said Gainey was prepared to go as high as two years at $8 million US a season. But Gainey will look elsewhere after 12:01 a.m. tomorrow, while the Leafs' war room plots its own post-Mats strategy.

The Tampa Bay Lightning made some proactive moves late last week to boost their chances, trading with the Pittsburgh Penguins to land the rights to Ryan Malone (signed last night to a $31.5-million, seven-year contract) and Gary Roberts.

GETTING LATE

"It's a little late in the game before July 1 for us to get involved in something such as that," Fletcher said.

Wingers Jaromir Jagr, Marian Hossa, Markus Naslund and defenceman Brian Campbell are tomorrow's UFA headliners.

The priority for the Leafs is finding a No. 1 centre, unless they plan to move Nik Antropov over and surround him with star wingers or give a heck of a promotion to Matt Stajan.

"The number of top first- and second-line guys at that position is very limited this year," Fletcher said. "But it doesn't mean you can't look at fixing it through other ways."

He meant a trade, but the Leafs couldn't get anything in the days leading up to buying out Darcy Tucker and Andrew Raycroft, and cutting Kyle Wellwood.

As of today, Fletcher's biggest bargaining chip, defenceman Bryan McCabe, would immediately invoke his no-movement clause, even though the Leafs are trying every civil way of convincing him to start anew elsewhere.

Failing a trade, Fletcher will go back to a second group of free agents for help on forward, defence and backup goaltending.

Money won't be such a hindrance in those cases with the Leafs having around $15 million to spend towards the cap, but the problem then becomes selling new players on the Leafs, with no Sundin, poor playoff chances and the only guarantee being lots of grief from fans and media ready to flip the calendar to 42 years since a Stanley Cup.

"You go after the players who want longer deals, who are big on being part of the rebuilding here," Fletcher said.

Fletcher denies he's bullying McCabe into accepting trade

TORONTO - Cliff Fletcher may no longer be viewed as a lovable grandpa because of his decisive personnel moves recently, but he says he is not a bully.

The 72-year-old Toronto Maple Leafs general manager granted the Montreal Canadiens exclusive rights to negotiate with long-time captain Mats Sundin and bought out beloved forward Darcy Tucker. But Friday he denied he has played hardball to force defenceman Bryan McCabe into accepting a trade.

"We don't threaten people," he said in a phone interview from a rented cottage, where he and his wife are enjoying some rare down time.

What Fletcher said the Leafs have done is ask McCabe if he would be willing to waive his no-trade clause. Reportedly, the defenceman refused and his agent suggested Toronto should buy him out of the remaining years of his contract.

Fletcher said that is not an option, though.

In order for both parties to sever ties, the Leafs would have to pay McCabe two-thirds of what he is owed - almost $3 million US per season - plus a reported $2-million US_bonus due on Sept. 15. Having already bought out Tucker on Wednesday and goaltender Andrew Raycroft on Thursday, Toronto would prefer not to absorb any more buyout money under the salary cap.

But Fletcher refuted that he would make Toronto an unfriendly place for McCabe.

At least one report has suggested Toronto might prevent him from participating in training camp or would simply keep him out of the lineup.

Such tactics could be grounds for filing a grievance against the Leafs.

"There's just so much speculation as to what may or may not happen," said Fletcher, who added he is no longer shopping McCabe around. "Bryan told us he would not accept a trade and that's where we stand."

Fletcher said he was unsure whether McCabe would be in the Leafs lineup when the regular season begins.

"I can't answer that right now," he said. "He's under contract. Ask me that on Labour Day."

Former general manager John Ferguson signed McCabe to a five-year, $28.75-million US contract after the defenceman scored a career-high 19 goals and 68 points in 2005-06. But the 33-year-old, who represented Canada in the 2006 Olympics, has since failed to replicate those offensive numbers, which helped cushion some of his defensive liabilities.

McCabe scored 15 goals in 2006-07 and managed only five in 54 games last season. He also tied for third in the league with 104 giveaways two years ago. That did not include the time he accidentally scored a game-winning goal on his own net last October.

Fans at Air Canada Centre, who have expected more out of McCabe since he signed his rich deal, were particularly nasty after that incident. But some still value his big shot from the point.

But if McCabe cannot be moved, the team would likely try and trade the Czech-born defenceman Pavel Kubina, who can be traded without his permission until Aug. 15.

"There's going to be a lot of changes," Fletcher said. "At the end of the day, we have to improve this hockey team."

National Post

mtraikos@nationalpost.com

Leafs put Raycroft on unconditional waivers

Goaltender Andrew Raycroft has been put on unconditional waivers by the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The final year of his contract will be bought out by the NHL team.

"Growing up in Ontario, Andrew wishes he would have been able to leave on a more positive note," his agent Jordan Neumann told TSN on Friday. "He's a year away from winning 37 games - it's not like he woke up one morning and forgot how to play. He looks forward to his next opportunity and a new challenge."

Raycroft's two seasons in Toronto were shaky, although in his first year with the club in 2006-07, he set a franchise record for wins with 37, but he also lost 25 games.

Last season he was replaced by Vesa Toskala as the Leafs' No. 1 netminder and appeared in only 19 games. Raycroft, 28, had a 2-9-5 record, 3.92 goals-against average and .876 save percentage.

He was acquired from the Boston Bruins for goalie Tuukka Rask just prior to the 2006-07 season.

Meantime, the Florida Panthers announced Friday that they have bought out the remaining one year on the contract of centre Jozef Stumpel. Stumpel, 35, appeared in 52 games for the Panthers last season, scoring seven goals and 13 assists. In three seasons with Florida, Stumpel played in 199 games scoring 129 points (45-84-129).

Leafs' Fletcher seeking free agent with right qualities

Young. Hard working. And oozing with character.

That is the criteria Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Cliff Fletcher plans on using to identify talent when the free agency period begins on July 1.

Last summer, former GM John Ferguson spent US$20-million on 34-year-old Jason Blake. This time around, Toronto is not looking for short-term solutions to fix the hockey club.

Instead, a rebuilding Leafs team is more interested in finding affordable, blue-collar personnel who can provide leadership to what promises to be an inexperienced hockey club.

"We're not looking to bring on players who are 31, 32 or 33 years of age," said Fletcher. "But there's going to be some unrestricted players who are in the 27, 28 or 29 age bracket who, three years from now, when we've hopefully got a good hockey team, can still be a big part of it."

The Leafs have the resources and roster room to be active on the free-agent market.

Last week, Fletcher granted the Montreal Canadiens the exclusive rights to negotiate with Mats Sundin. He then bought out Darcy Tucker's contract on Tuesday and placed Kyle Wellwood and Andrew Raycroft on waivers. Wellwood was claimed by Vancouver yesterday.

The potential exodus of four roster players will result in a little more than US$10-million in savings, although goaltender Vesa Toskala's salary will jump from US$1.375-million to US$4-million and restricted free-agent forward Matt Stajan could be looking at an increase from the US$1-million he made last season.

With the salary cap expected to increase nearly US$6-million, the Leafs could have the finances to be in play for one of the few marquee free agents available.

But rather than try and replace Sundin's offence with a top-end forward such as Pittsburgh's Marian Hossa, the team seems more interested in hard-nosed grinders like Ryan Malone or Jarkko Ruutu.

"We need quality young players," he said. "We'll be looking for a couple of players to fit in on the bottom two lines. And then we'll be looking at the possibility of getting one top-six forward, which may or may not be available to us. We could also be looking at getting a couple of defencemen."

Though there are some enticing restricted free agents available -- Anaheim's Corey Perry, Colorado's Marek Svatos and Philadelphia's Jeff Carter -- most would cost the Leafs multiple first-round draft picks.

"We can't afford to give away draft picks like that," Fletcher said." We have to build up a reservoir of young talent that finds its way to the NHL."

That reservoir deepened when Toronto selected Luke Schenn fifth overall last week's entry draft.

The Leafs believe the NHL-ready defenceman and 21-year-old Russian prospect Nikolai Kulemin (drafted 44th overall in 2006) have a legitimate chance at cracking the team's roster. Even if they do not, Toronto promises to ice a youth-heavy team this season.

Forward Jiri Tlusty, defenceman Anton Stralman and six other potential Leafs -- Stajan, Alex Steen, Jeremy Williams, Kris Newbury, Carlo Colaiacovo, Ian White -- are 26 years old or younger.

That was part of Fletcher's reasoning behind the trade with St. Louis for veteran forward Jamal Mayers.

"[Mayers] can still play at a high level, he has good speed, and if you're going to have eight, nine or 10 players in your dressing room that are 25 or under, you need that type of leadership."

Leafs won't just sit back and watch

Maple Leafs GM Cliff Fletcher promised yesterday to be busy July 1 in pursuing free agents. Fletcher said he's going after younger players, eyeing unrestricted free agents under 30, as he tries to remake the team into a contender.

"We're not going to be in the bidding for older players, anybody 31, 32, that age bracket," said Fletcher. "We're more interested in free agents, 27, 28, 29, who legitimately - if we have a team that can compete three years from now - will still be a big part of it."

Fletcher didn't give away any names, but there are a few unrestricted free agents who fit his description. Among those:

Left winger Ryan Malone, 28, who had a breakout season with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Agitator Sean Avery, 28, of the New York Rangers, a Pickering native who claims to hate the Leafs.

Left winger Antti Miettinen, 27, a solid performer for the Dallas Stars.

Defenceman Brian Campbell, 29, a puck-moving defenceman of the San Jose Sharks who is sure to command top dollar.

Defenceman Brad Stuart, 28, an under-the-radar performer for the Detroit Red Wings, until they won the Stanley Cup.

More than a few restricted free agents fit the bill, too, like Philadelphia's Jeff Carter. But Fletcher said it would cost the Leafs too much in terms of compensatory draft picks to pursue the solid crop of restricted free agents.

"In our situation, to go for the top ones (RFAs) doesn't make any sense at all," said Fletcher. "We're not in a position to give up three and four first-round draft picks. We're building for the future, and we can't afford that luxury."

The Toronto Star

Shedding Tucker's contract shouldn't be the last step

There's one enormous question lingering in the wake of the buyout of Darcy Tucker.

Why?

Not that there can't be a meaningful rationale behind the decision to send Tucker, designated a core athlete by the Maple Leafs just 12 months ago, packing with $6 million in his jeans, $3 million in salary lost and new opportunities should he choose to pursue them.

But was he that bad?

He wasn't overly expensive at $3 million a year, particularly for a club that may be well below the salary cap next season. He'd had one bad season, yes, but that had come on the heels of several good ones. It infuriated him to be compared to Tie Domi as the two players were never even friendly, but the fact was that both men were enormously popular as Leafs despite being nowhere near elite NHLers.

So why buy Tucker out without even giving him a chance to skate in even one practice for Ron Wilson?

It has to be one of two reasons. First, the Leafs think he's just done, unable to skate well enough to be an effective regular in the NHL, and no longer capable of being a physical threat. Being speed-bagged last season by Jarkko Ruutu - a Finn pounding the bejeezus out of a heart-and-soul Canuck! - didn't do much for Tucker's rough-and-tumble image.

The second possibility is that the Leafs' management team decided Tucker was a toxic element in the team's dressing room that had to be cleansed. To be sure, there was a remarkable sense of entitlement last year among the last-place Leafs. Tucker seemed to be a mentor to youngsters like Alex Steen and Kyle Wellwood, and maybe it's no surprise Wellwood's gone, too.

Tucker, who voraciously reads every word written about him, fumed all year long that he wasn't getting enough respect from the media but had to wait until he finally produced a two-goal game in the second half of the season to feel confident enough to get in the face of his tormentors. The man should have been embarrassed to do so even then. It never dawned on him that he should have to perform to be exalted.

But whatever the reason, the Leafs no longer wanted Tucker, and because of his no-trade deal, they couldn't trade him, at least not easily.

So they dumped him and moved on. Tucker might come back and prove he can still play or do damage to the Leafs in a game or two, but so what? By the time the Leafs are a significant force in the Eastern Conference again, Tucker will be retired. Sundin too, and probably Bryan McCabe, who is also designated for reassignment elsewhere in the NHL by the current Leaf management team.

Throw in those players along with John Pohl, Wellwood and Andrew Raycroft, and you have the change that general manager Cliff Fletcher promised.

Right now, this appears to be a team that will be built around Vesa Toskala in net, Nik Antropov, Alexei Ponikarovsky, Jason Blake, Matt Stajan, Steen, Jiri Tlusty and Nikolai Kulemin up front, and Tomas Kaberle, Pavel Kubina, Carlo Colaiacovo, Anton Stralman and Ian White on the back end.

Sadly, there are already some calling for 2008 first-round pick Luke Schenn to be part of the squad next fall, when the reality is that the correct time for Schenn to appear in a Leaf uniform will be for the start of the 2010-11 season - at the earliest - after more grooming in junior and the AHL.

The Leafs, having rushed a long list of young defencemen including Jim Benning, Gary Nylund, Luke Richardson, Drake Berehowsky and Jeff Ware over the years, should know this better than any other team.

So the Leafs, effectively, have been blown up. Logically, they should be looking only for support players this summer, with the big payoff being a dominant forward (John Tavares, Brayden Schenn) or a big-time defenceman (Victor Hedman) a year from now.

That should be the plan. If it isn't, dumping the likes of Tucker will seem more puzzling, or downright pointless.

Fletcher sets deadline, says he needs a decision from Sundin by Sunday

Cliff Fletcher is prepared to wait for Mats Sundin no longer than this weekend before the divorce is final and he makes free agent spending plans without the Maple Leafs' franchise scoring leader.

While the betting is that Sundin will go elsewhere this season, the general manager has kept the door open a crack, even after granting the Montreal Canadiens exclusive rights to try and work a deal prior to unrestricted free agency starting Tuesday. The Leafs will keep something along the lines of a one-year, $7-million US no-trade deal in the drawer, though the growing feeling is that Sundin will out-wait the Leafs and Habs and go to the highest bidder in July.

Sundin told Swedish reporters yesterday that he hadn't yet made his mind up, regarding retirement, a Habs deal or coming back here. Montreal general manager Bob Gainey hoped to speak to Sundin yesterday, though reports of him flying to Sweden are premature. But Gainey wants to acquire a big centre somewhere and will quickly look elsewhere if Sundin drags his feet. Toronto's window to shop elsewhere also is small.

"(The uncertainty) would be an issue for us and it would become a bigger issue at 12:01 on Tuesday," Fletcher said. "I anticipate we'll have dialogue with Mats on the weekend. If we had 48 hours, that's fine, but it's Mats' call.

"We're ready to proceed in any case when the gong goes off (Tuesday). After that, it would be very difficult to sit around waiting for Mats."

The Leafs did tie up some business ends yesterday, completing Darcy Tucker's two-thirds contract buyout, also cutting ties with Kyle Wellwood, who was claimed on waivers by the Vancouver Canucks, while goalie Andrew Raycroft cleared.

Fletcher said he would take the next two days to decide if he'd put Raycroft on unconditional waivers with the aim of buying out his $2.2 million US deal or play him somewhere in the organization next year. Fletcher said there was another goaltending option he was examining, which could mean watching what other clubs are doing with spare goalies, such as Marc Denis and Curtis Joseph.

Though no doubt upset about having to play away from his adopted city, Tucker declined comment to Sun Media's Mike Zeisberger yesterday, only saying "it is what it is."

Carlos Sosa, Tucker's agent, wryly noted his client won't suffer financially, getting $1 million a season the next six years.

"We'll take our $9 million one-year deal ($3 million last year and the buyout) and look elsewhere," Sosa chortled on the Fan 590.