Mats Sundin Mats Johan Sundin ( ; born February 13 , 1971 ) is a retired Swedish professional ice hockey player . Originally drafted first overall in 1989 , Sundin played his first four seasons in the NHL with the Quebec Nordiques . He was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1994 , where he played the majority of his career , serving 11 seasons as team captain . At the end of the 2007 – 08 NHL season , Sundin had been the second - longest active serving captain in the NHL , behind Joe Sakic of the Colorado Avalanche , and the longest serving non - North American born captain in NHL history . Sundin last played for the Vancouver Canucks in the 2008 – 09 season before announcing his retirement on September 30 , 2009 . Excluding his first season , the shortened lockout season and his half season with the Vancouver Canucks , Sundin has scored at least 70 points every year . He has played at least 70 games in every full length NHL season of his career , and has led the Leafs in points in every year he has been with the team except 2002 – 03 , when Alexander Mogilny beat him by seven points . On October 14 , 2006 , Sundin became the first Swedish player to score 500 goals . He is the Leafs ' franchise all - time leader in goals ( 420 ) and points ( 984 ) . He is currently tied with Jaromír Jágr , Sergei Fedorov , and Patrik Eliáš for the NHL record for regular season overtime goals ( 15 ) . Internationally , Sundin has won three gold medals with Sweden at the World Championships and a gold medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin . Playing career . Quebec Nordiques . Sundin was drafted by the Quebec Nordiques with the first overall pick in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft , becoming the first European - born player drafted first overall in NHL history . At the time , Sundin was playing in the Swedish second - tier HockeyAllsvenskan for Nacka HK . He played the following season in the Elitserien for Djurgårdens IF , helping the club to the Le Mat Trophy as league champions . Sundin made his NHL debut with Quebec during the 1990 – 91 NHL season , finishing second on the team behind Joe Sakic with 59 points . He scored his first NHL goal against the Hartford Whalers in his first NHL game on October 4 , 1990 . After improving to 76 points in his second NHL season , he led the Nordiques with a career - high 114 points in 1992 – 93 , emerging as one of the league ' s premier young players . He played one more season with the Nordiques , recording 85 points in 84 games , before being dealt to the Toronto Maple Leafs . Toronto Maple Leafs . The Maple Leafs acquired Sundin in a trade on June 28 , 1994 . The Nordiques sent Sundin , Garth Butcher , Todd Warriner , and a 1994 first - round draft pick ( acquired through the 1992 Eric Lindros deal , traded to the Washington Capitals , used to pick Nolan Baumgartner ) to the Leafs in exchange for Wendel Clark , Sylvain Lefebvre , Landon Wilson , and a 1994 first - round draft pick ( used to pick Jeff Kealty ) . However , as a result of the 1994 – 95 lockout , Sundin ' s Toronto debut was delayed and he returned to Sweden to play again for Djurgårdens IF . When NHL play resumed later that season , Sundin made an immediate impact , leading the Leafs in scoring at a point - per - game pace with 47 points . In his third season with the Maple Leafs , Sundin recorded a 41 - goal , 94 - point season , the second - highest of his career and the most prolific during his tenure in Toronto . With the departure of team captain Doug Gilmour to the New Jersey Devils during the 1996 – 97 season , Sundin was named Gilmour ' s successor , becoming the sixteenth Maple Leafs captain and first European captain in team history . After an 83 - point campaign in 1998 – 99 , Sundin led the Maple Leafs into the 1999 playoffs as the fourth seed . Bolstered by the acquisitions of forward Steve Thomas and goaltender Curtis Joseph in the previous off - season , the Leafs made it to the Eastern Conference Finals against the seventh - seeded Buffalo Sabres , but were defeated in five games . Sundin made another appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals with the Maple Leafs again in 2001 – 02 , but lost to the Carolina Hurricanes in six games . Sundin finished with a career - playoff - high 16 points in 17 playoff contests . In 2002 – 03 , after eight consecutive years as the Maple Leafs ' leading scorer in the regular season , Sundin was succeeded by Alexander Mogilny , who topped Sundin ' s 72 points with 79 . The following season , Mogilny suffered a serious hip injury that required him to miss 12 weeks which allowed Sundin to reclaim his spot as top scorer for the Maple Leafs that season . During the 2003 – 04 campaign , however , Sundin was the subject of league controversy with his infamous stick - throwing incident on January 8 , 2004 , against the Nashville Predators . Breaking his stick on an attempted shot , Sundin threw it aside in disgust . Instead of hitting the glass , the stick inadvertently went flying into the crowd . Deemed a reckless act by the league , Sundin was subsequently assigned a one - game suspension . After the game , as an apology , he gave a brand new autographed stick to the fan that had caught the broken stick . As a result of the ensuing 2004 – 05 NHL lockout , Sundin spent the next season inactive , opting not to play in Sweden like many of his countrymen . When NHL play resumed for 2005 – 06 , Sundin was sidelined in the first game of the season when he was struck in the face with a puck , narrowly missing his eye , but breaking his orbital bone . He returned to the lineup after a month to lead the team in scoring with 78 points . However , the Leafs did not meet the same success and missed the playoffs for the first time in seven years in 2006 . It would also mark the first of Sundin ' s last three years with the Leafs without a post - season appearance . Near the beginning of the 2006 – 07 season , Sundin became just the 35th player in NHL history to reach the 500 - goal mark . He achieved the milestone on October 14 , 2006 , with a hat trick effort against Miikka Kiprusoff of the Calgary Flames . He scored the 500th goal with his third mark of the game over Kiprusoff ' s blocker in overtime to defeat the Flames 5 – 4 . Later in the season , on March 20 , 2007 , Sundin reached 900 points as a Maple Leaf with a two - assist effort in a 2 – 1 win against the New Jersey Devils . The following season , in 2007 – 08 , Sundin began approaching several team records as a Maple Leaf . In the second game of the season , on October 4 , 2007 , against the Ottawa Senators , Sundin scored his 389th goal with the club , tying Darryl Sittler ' s team record . In Toronto ' s fifth game of the season , on October 11 versus the New York Islanders , Sundin scored his 917th point as a Maple Leaf , breaking Darryl Sittler ' s franchise all - time record . In the same game , he also scored his 390th goal in the third period , taking sole possession of the all - time goal - scoring lead . At the end of the game , he was ceremoniously elected the first , second , and third star of the game . On November 27 , in a game against the Montreal Canadiens , Sundin became the first player to score 400 goals as a Leaf . Several days later , on December 1 , in a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins , he broke Babe Dye ' s 83 - year - old Toronto record when he extended his home game point streak to 15 games . With the Leafs falling out of playoff contention once more towards the end of the season and Sundin ' s contract set to expire , Sundin was the focus of numerous trade rumours as the February 26 trade deadline approached . Maple Leafs management requested that Sundin waive his no - trade clause in order for the team to acquire potential young talent and / or draft picks to secure the team ' s future . On February 25 , however , he stated that he would not waive his no - trade clause , stating that he did not believe in being a " rental player " and that if he won the Stanley Cup , he wanted to do it over the course of a whole season . He remained with the club and , with 78 points , marked the fourth consecutive year and twelfth of thirteen years as the Maple Leafs leading scorer . Vancouver Canucks . Sundin became a free agent on July 1 , 2008 , although the Maple Leafs had previously given the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers special rights to negotiate with him until then . On the day of free agency , newly appointed general manager Mike Gillis of the Vancouver Canucks offered Sundin a lucrative two - year , $ 20 million contract which , if signed , would have made him the highest paid player in the NHL . Attempting to entice him to sign with the Canucks , numerous Vancouver businesses extended Swedish - centred special offers , such as a Volvo and IKEA products . The Rangers , Canadiens and Leafs also made contract offers , however , Sundin chose to hold out for the beginning of the season , contemplating retirement . After announcing that he would , in fact , return to the NHL and sign with a team , he narrowed his prospects down to the New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks . On December 18 , 2008 , the Canucks announced that Sundin had signed with the club to a one - year , $ 8 . 6 million contract . Pro - rated for the remainder of the season , Sundin ' s salary worked out to $ 5 million . Taking a $ 1 . 4 million pay cut from the Canucks ' original yearly offer , Sundin reportedly decreased his contract willingly in order to give the Canucks added salary cap space to potentially bolster their lineup before the end of the season . Sundin made his Canucks debut on January 7 , 2009 , in a 4 – 2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers , and scored his first goal with the club two games later , on January 10 , a powerplay goal in a 4 – 2 loss to the San Jose Sharks . Sundin returned to Toronto on February 21 , 2009 , to play his first game against the Maple Leafs . The return to the Air Canada Centre became highly emotional when a video tribute was paid to the Leafs ' franchise leader during a break in the first period followed by a standing ovation . The game was decided by a shootout with Sundin scoring the winning goal against his former team resulting in a 3 – 2 win for Vancouver . Having established himself as a point - per - game player throughout his career , Sundin was criticized for his regular - season play , managing just 28 points in 41 games while playing mostly on the second line with Pavol Demitra and Ryan Kesler , Sundin returned to point - per - game form in the 2009 playoffs , however , as the Canucks entered the post - season as the Northwest Division champions . He missed the final two games of the Canucks first - round sweep against the St . Louis Blues with a suspected hip injury after falling awkwardly behind the net in game two , but returned in time for the second round against the Chicago Blackhawks . As the Canucks were eliminated in six games , Sundin finished the playoffs with 8 points in 8 games . On September 30 , 2009 , Sundin announced his retirement at a press conference in his native Stockholm , Sweden . In 2012 , Mats was inducted into the [ [ Hockey Hall of Fame . International play . Sundin has represented [ [ Sweden men ' s national ice hockey team | Team Sweden ] ] at various international competitions , including the [ [ World Cup of Hockey | World Cup ] ] and the [ [ Ice hockey at the Winter Olympics | Winter Olympics ] ] , and has held the position of [ [ captain ( ice hockey ) | team captain ] ] for the national squad for the better part of the last decade . Sundin is widely recognized as one of the top players in the world in these international competitions , and has added a highly impressive list of accomplishments to his credentials as a result of his outstanding performance in the [ [ Ice hockey at the 2002 Winter Olympics | 2002 Winter Olympics ] ] and [ [ 2004 World Cup of Hockey | 2004 World Cup ] ] . Sundin has won three [ [ Ice Hockey World Championships | IIHF World Championships ] ] with Sweden in 1991 , 1992 and 1998 . Sundin finally clinched an Olympic gold medal with [ [ Sweden men ' s national ice hockey team | Team Sweden ] ] in [ [ 2006 Winter Olympics | 2006 ] ] in [ [ Turin ] ] . A picture of his ' fighting face ' when Sweden turned a 5 – 1 deficit into a 6 – 5 win over [ [ Finland men ' s national ice hockey team | Finland ] ] during a World Championship game has become iconic . Sundin was the captain of the Swedish National Team in the [ [ 2006 Winter Olympics ] ] . Despite the controversy surrounding the team allegedly throwing a game earlier in the tournament , he led them to a gold medal with a 3 – 2 victory over Finland in the final . After leading his team to the gold medal in Turin , he stated that he did not expect to return to the national team . Sundin has played for Sweden in : Personal life . Toronto is home to an intense hockey media , and since Sundin is a private individual , he was arguably the most scrutinized athlete in the city . He regularly deflected any probes into his personal life , and rarely spoke negatively of his teammates in public . In 2006 , Sundin put his four - bedroom house up for sale for a price of $ 6 . 499 million , which led to a flurry of media speculation that he was unhappy with the Leafs and sought to move ( and play ) somewhere else . However , Sundin and his longtime girlfriend Tina Fagerström had parted ways , and Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment CEO [ [ Richard Peddie ] ] simply commented that the real estate market was very hot , and that Sundin ' s house was " an awfully big house for a single guy . " Sundin played with the Leafs the following NHL season . On April 30 , 2008 , Sundin was receiving a leadership award at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic High School in [ [ Guelph ] ] , [ [ Ontario ] ] , when he announced that he and his girlfriend Josephine Johansson were engaged to be married . The two had been dating for about a year . In September 2008 , Sundin announced an endorsement deal with PokerStars . He plays under the username " MatsSundin " and will donate any earnings to charity . On August 29 , 2009 , Mats married fiancée Josephine Johansson . The guest list exceeded 200 people and included several current ( at the time ) and ex - teammates . External links . [ [ Category : Swedish ice hockey players | Sundin , Mats ] ] [ [ Category : Nacka HK players | Sundin , Mats ] ] [ [ Category : Djurgårdens IF players | Sundin , Mats ] ] [ [ Category : Quebec Nordiques players | Sundin , Mats ] ] [ [ Category : Toronto Maple Leafs players | Sundin , Mats ] ] [ [ Category : Member of the Swedish National Team | Sundin , Mats ] ] [ [ Category : Born in 1971 | Sundin , Mats ] ] [ [ Category : Vancouver Canucks players ] ] [ [ Category : Hockey Hall of Fame ] ] [ [ Category : IIHF Player ] ]