Put out a welcome mats..

It could happen as early as Tuesday, but should be no later than Friday, the long drawn out saga of where will Mats play may finally be near and end.

The Globe and Mail reports that Sundin is down to two choices for which he will toil for the remainder of the season, the Vancouver Canucks with their millions of dollars or the lure of New York City, all other contenders apparently can pack up their bags.

Sundin, who has been working off the rust in California for the last month or so, will chat with his agent one more time to see which team has provided the right comfort points for his return and then it's expected that he will sign on the dotted line.

While Vancouver has been the most prominent of the teams in the Sundin search, those twenty million dollars over two years weren't enough in the early going to force a quick decisions, however, that kind of money rarely comes around for a player on the final laps of a career, so Sundin surely won't dismiss it out of hand as he thinks over his options.

The Rangers recently were added to the mix, and while they have a cap problem at the moment, it's nothing that can't be taken care of with a trade or demotion or two.

The working number now it seems is six million dollars, that is the amount that would be left on the Canucks deal for this year, with the season into its third month. The Rangers will have to try and work their way close to that amount, though there are suggestions that Sundin may accept less to work on Broadway.

He's reportedly proven to be too elusive for the likes of Montreal, Ottawa, Philadephia and Chicago, all of which don't have the necessary cap space to make the numbers work.

That leaves him with two to choose from, sometime this week, that number will be reduced by one...

Globe and Mail-- And then there were two ...

National Post-- Sundin down to two

Vancouver Sun-- Canucks, Rangers in Sundin tug-of-war

Vancouver Province-- It's between Vancouver and NY, TSN's McKenzie reports

New York Daily News-- Mats how it's done! Blue Shirts blow Hurricanes away in OT

New York Post-- RANGERS MUST CLEAR SPACE FOR SUNDIN

As summer heads for fall, Mr. Gillis waits (and) waits for Mats call!

He’s counted those twenty million dollars over and over again, no doubt having stacked them up nice and neat in the corner of his office at GM Place, just waiting, oh so patiently to call the Loomis guys to come and pick them up.

Mike Gillis, who has tied up some twenty million dollars of Canuck cap and spend financing in a bold attempt to bring Mats Sundin west, must be wondering just what he has to do to get an answer.

Recent ruminations from Sundins’ agent suggest that the ponderous Swede is still trying to determine if or when he really is inclined to play this shinny game any more.

Sundin himself told the Toronto media that while he’s been working out lightly, he hasn’t really engaged in the more rigorous workouts that he normally would prior to another year of the NHL battles.

Where this all leaves Gillis, who it appears may not even be the first choice for Sundin, is the question that is making the rounds of the Vancouver sports bars and radio talk shows.

Having spent the summer chasing Sundin, other free agents found other homes none of which will be a benefit to Vancouver’s real estate agents. Instead the Canucks seemed to feature a house cleaning of many of the old familiar names, while replacing them with those names that Canuck’s fans probably have heard of but certainly don’t set their hearts on fire, nor will open their pocketbooks for same day tickets.

While Canuck fans probably found the flash of the big offer intriguing in the early days, now that a few months have gone by and Mats hasn’t dropped by, many are figuring that perhaps Gillis should just pull the offer.

Gillis for his part says he's willing to play the waiting game should Sundin not come to Vancouver, ready to consider trades to help build the team, but only if the right deal comes around. Which means the game of patience will no doubt become a favourite around the Canucks office it seems.

It’s too late to harvest other free agents with that twenty million dollar pile, but holding out hope that Sundin may eventually make up his mind doesn’t seem like the kind of reassuring strategy that Canuck fans were hoping for after last years disappointing end to the season.

Gillis for his part says he's willing to play the waiting game should Sundin not come to Vancouver, ready to consider trades to help build the team, but only if the right deal comes around. Which means the game of patience will no doubt become a favourite around the Canucks office it seems.

As they head into training camp, there are still way more questions than answers when it comes to whether the Canucks know what they are doing and whether they are anywhere closer to competing for the Stanley Cup than they have been over the last couple of years since the exile of Brian Burke and Pat Quinn before him.

Montreal Gazette--Habs president expects Sundin to decide soon

National Post-- Leafs willing to wait for Sundin

National Post-- The Silent Swede

CBC Sports-- Any training camp a 'long shot': Sundin

Vancouver Sun-- Gillis won't surrender on Sundin

Vancouver Province-- Sundin unlikely to play here

He has regards for Broadway, but may be more likely destined for Broad Street!

The great where’s Mats going to land drama adds another destination on this Sunday, as numerous reports peg the latest destination for the once and now apparently former Maple Leaf centre as Broadway.

This of course will send the Vancouver media into overdrive with the "I told you so’s", this of course after newly enshrined GM’s Mike Gillis’ twenty million dollar temptation seemingly has come up wanting for the Big Swede.

Sundin still spending quiet summer days and nights in Sweden, has not made a public comment in many a moonrise now, but apparently has been quick to the phone with his agent to steer the travel arrangements towards a Big Apple touchdown, or so the latest goes.

The other possibility it seems might be Philadelphia where it’s reported that GM Paul Holmgren is working the abacus to try and make some financial wriggle room to bring in the centre ice presence.

Clearly off the radar now it seems is that building with the blue and white carpeting and with it the other Canadian destination of note Montreal.

The summer long melodrama seems set to continue for a little bit longer, but the fall out will be felt first in Vancouver should Sundin decide that those twenty million dollars aren’t everything. Gillis kind of went out on the ledge in June with his Sundin gambit, a decision that left many wondering if the Canucks had a plan B in place., The answer it would appear will be, uh, er, no not really, unless of course Joe Sakic decides that he’s good to go for one more year and would rather play in Vancouver to close out his career in his hometown. It would make a pretty decent consolation prize (for some better than the original plan) and would at least save Gillis the embarrassment of having to explain how things went off the rails so fast.

For Toronto, the obituaries were crafted on Sundin’s Maple Leaf Days as the regular season was winding down, with few if any really expecting him to return to the Leafs and their latest rebuilding and rebranding operation.

Montreal probably played their best hand in the latter stages of the regular season when they reportedly were trying to work on a trade for Sundin, since those excited days there hasn’t been much in the way of follow up, with little indication that the Swede fits into Bob Gainey's plans for 2008-09.

The New York suggestion seems more of a case of finding a landing spot with a bit of panache, to give Sundin a place to play that still has a bit of intrigue and is worthy of his years of service, especially if he’s letting the Canuck’s Brink’s truck pass by without making a withdrawal.

Philadelphia certainly seems like the strangest fit of the bunch, which judging how this soap opera has played out over the summer, must surely mean that big Mats will be in Flyer’s orange by September…

Globe and Mail-- Sundin reportedly eyeing Broadway

National Post-- Sundin's agent downplays Rangers report

Toronto Star-- Mats Sundin's agent refutes New York Rangers rumours

New York Post-- SUNDIN ITCHIN' TO LACE 'EM UP ON BROADWAY

CBC Sports-- Rangers pursuing free agent Sundin: report

TSN-- AGENT DENIES REPORT ON SUNDIN'S INTEREST IN RANGERS