Mats Sundin is a legend, a Hall of Famer—and forever a cult hero in Toronto. Now, he reveals the most talented player he ever played with and shares hilarious details about how this teammate never, ever did any off-ice training.
Sundin was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1994, and although there were questions and hesitation from fans at the time, he quickly proved why the team believed in him so much. He went on to spend the majority of his career in Toronto, serving 11 seasons as team captain.
By the end of the 2007–08 season—19 years after being drafted first overall by the Quebec Nordiques—he had become the longest-serving non-North-American-born captain in NHL history. Sundin scored at least 70 points in nearly every season of his career and remains one of the greatest and most powerful players of the modern NHL era.
Mats Sundin names most skillful teammate
Over the course of his two-decade career—he retired in September 2009—Sundin faced and played alongside countless all-time greats. But one player stood out above the rest. In his autobiography, Home and Away, Sundin named Alexander Mogilny as the most skillful and talented player he ever played with. But there was more to the story.
In the book, Sundin wrote that he never once saw Mogilny do any off-ice training. No weights. No conditioning. Just pure, raw talent.
“I played with a lot of great players, both on the national team and during my years in the National Hockey League,” Sundin told The Athletic.
“And I would argue that Alex is the most talented player I ever played with. When he came to Toronto, he was later in his career. Obviously, he had a hip problem that gave him trouble—even during his time with us on the Leafs. But what a fantastic hockey player. Great person off the ice. It was really a treat to play with him during those years in Toronto.”
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