The Toronto Maple Leafs are currently meeting with Mats Sundin about a potential management role, which in theory seems like a smart idea, but it's only a distraction.
Credit to @FriedgeHNIC Mats Sundin is in Toronto today to meet with Keith Pelley and the MLSE hiring team. It’s believed, Toronto has interest in bringing in their former captain in a prominent role in Hockey Operations. No title is being attached at this point.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) April 17, 2026
It's always fun when Sundin is in the building because it reminds us of the good ol' days when the Leafs would dominate the Ottawa Senators every postseason on route to multiple Eastern Conference Finals. Sundin's leadership guided this team to their best chance at glory in the past 25 years, but bringing him back may be a distraction to the bigger picture.
Whenever a team brings in a former player, it always feels like they need it for good public relations. Every Leafs fan is angry at President & CEO Keith Pelley right now, so if he were to trot Sundin onto a stage and call him the Vice President of Hockey Operations or a Senior Advisor to the President, many fans will love that.
However, I'm not falling for it.
Sundin is a Hall of Fame hockey player, but he hasn't been involved in the game since 2009. Not even any advisory role in the NHL whatsoever since he hung up his skates. He can continue to be an ambassador for the team but is this the person we want to be making high end hockey decisions right now?
Hiring Sundin is a way to distract fans from the bigger picture
The 55 year-old has been living in Sweden post-retirement and although he's been more active in Toronto lately, the Leafs don't need to pull a rabbit out of their hat from the past, but instead need someone who's focused about the future.
The only way that Sundin helps the Leafs is if he's someone who can talk Auston Matthews through a rebuild. The Leafs captain had some great days in Toronto and some bad days, but I'm sure he would have loved nothing more than to win in Toronto.
Matthews has every right to be mad at management and to want to leave, but Sundin can convince him to stay because there quite litterally wouldn't be a better place to win in Toronto. If things go right and this team goes on a run, Matthews would be a god if he brought home a Stanley Cup.
Sundin didn't win a championship and he has a statue out front. Imagine the type of love this man would get if won here? Maybe he thinks it's impossible to win in Toronto and that the noise is too loud, but Sundin can tell him about those Eastern Conference Finals days and how amazing this city was, which should help him stay.
Overall though, the Sundin hire feels like it's just a way to get Leafs fans back on their side when it's unsure how much of an impact he'll really have. Maybe his presence will help recruit the right coach and/or President, but overall this just feels like a move to keep season ticket members from not renewing their membership.
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