“I’d say I’m done now,” admitted Marchment. “I don’t think anyone’s going to be calling me any more. I’m playing pond hockey myself now, not far from what they’re doing in the NHL now.”

The 37-year-old Marchment tells Spector that “he is in the process of filing his retirement papers with the NHLPA,” so it’s just a matter of time before his NHL career will officially be over.

A veteran of 926 games, Marchment had hoped to return to the Toronto Maple Leafs last summer, and was even willing to play for “the league-minimum salary.” Unfortunately, the Maple Leafs had no interest in “Mush” and decided to go in a different direction.

“At $450,000, I like to think I could have still played the game,” he said. “But Toronto wanted to go with some other guys, and I didn’t want to move again. … But [Leafs GM] John Ferguson decided to go with a $5-million player who can’t play [Pavel Kubina], and another guy at $2.1-million [Hal Gill]. Holy jumpin’ — it seems like a hell of a lot of money in the cap world.”

Over his career with the Winnipeg Jets, Chicago Blackhawks, Edmonton Oilers, Tampa Bay Lightning, San Jose Sharks, Colorado Avalanche, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Calgary Flames, Marchment has accumulated 40 goals and 142 assists for 182 points, and 2307 penalty minutes.

The Leafs are said the have made an “organizational decision” this week to hold on to Sundin for this season, while trying to re-sign the Swedish forward to a “new deal by seasons’s end.”

Spector speculates that if Sundin is signed it will “likely” be a three-year pact, a deal which would allow Sundin to retire a Maple Leaf.

However, Spector does not see that as a good step for the franchise to take. He is of the belief that the Maple Leafs would be better off trading Sundin, a move that could return the Buds “as much as a first-round draft pick, a top prospect, and a current NHL player.” Spector insists that a re-building process is needed in Toronto, and the returns from a Sundin trade would be a step in the right direction.