by Spector

Updated: August 27, 2008, 7:21 PM EST 24 comments

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Heading into mid-August, Mats Sundin, Joe Sakic and Teemu Selanne remain unsigned and thus far there's been little indication they'll be signing new contracts anytime soon.

Of the three, Sundin has garnered the most attention, with his agent claiming in late-July that as many as six NHL teams are interested in him.

The Vancouver Canucks have made the biggest offer, a mind-boggling two-year $20 million contract. The Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs — Sundin's former club — are in the running while the New York Rangers are also rumored to be interested.

The former Leafs captain however has given no indication if he'll return to the NHL and there's even talk he could retire.

Sakic meanwhile has told the Colorado Avalanche he needed time to decide on his future. It's believed if he does return it'll only be with the Avalanche, hence the absence of speculation of rival clubs pursuing him.

Selanne also hasn't tipped his hand but it's believed he'll only re-sign with the Anaheim Ducks and is merely waiting for Ducks management to clear enough salary-cap space to sign him.

The unwillingness of these three to rush deciding on their respective futures earned them the wrath of some impatient fans and pundits.

One reporter suggested in mid-July that Sundin owes an apology to the general managers who've expressed interest in signing him for wasting their time, while another accused the three of being prima donnas.

Granted, the endless speculation – particularly in Sundin's case – has become tedious, but that's not the players' fault. It's the media that's kept the guessing game over their respective futures alive, due in part to the absence of significant hockey news by mid-summer.

( / Getty Images)

Sundin, Sakic and Selanne aren't being selfish or petty by taking their time to decide on returning to action, nor by doing so are they holding any team hostage.

The three are unrestricted free agents, meaning that when it comes to their future in hockey they're free to decide what they'll do and to take as long as they wish reaching their respective decisions.

Nothing in the league's current collective bargaining agreement stipulates the three must sign with the team by the end of July or at any set time in the offseason. They have plenty of time to decide if they want to return next season and given their long years of service in the NHL they've more than earned that right.

If the teams interested in signing them are willing to wait weeks or months to sign them, that's their problem and nobody else's. Those general managers aren't being forced into playing the waiting game, it's their own choice.

It's been suggested that the three are merely exploiting the system in order to avoid playing a full grueling 82-game NHL season. But with the start of the 2008-09 season still nearly two months away, it's premature to make that accusation.

Some critics have compared their situation to that of Anaheim's Scott Niedermayer, who hinted at retirement last summer but ultimately returned to the Ducks roster by the middle of the 2007-08 season.

Niedermayer, however, was still under contract; Sundin, Sakic and Selanne are not and their apparent indecisiveness isn't having an adverse affect on any team's salary cap.

It remains to be seen what decision those three will make, but the CBA allows them to take as much time as they need. They don't deserve the criticism they're getting for doing so.