If Mats Sundin decided to play this season, and decided that he would like to play in Philadelphia, Flyers’ GM Paul Holmgren said that he would be interested in signing the All-Star forward. Holmgren has reportedly contacted Sundin’s agent to notify the Swedish born star of the Flyers’ interest in him.

“I certainly wouldn’t be optimistic about him becoming a Flyer, but I think we’ve got to do our due diligence and look into it. I haven’t talked to his agent in the last 10 days, but they know we’re one of the teams that would be interested in signing him, and we’ll see where it goes,” Holmgren said during Tuesday night’s game against the New York Islanders.

That being said, it is unlikely that Sundin will end up wearing the orange and black. For starters, he remains the hottest free agent on the market, stemming from the end of last season. He has not yet made any indications that he will definitely play this season, although he continues to work out and has been in contact with several teams, including Vancouver and the New York Rangers.

He has set December 15 (next Monday) as his deadline for signing with a team for this season. He is said to be planning a visit with the Rangers this weekend.

“You’re always looking to make your team better if you can. I like our team, I think we’re a good team, but I think there are a number of good teams,” Holmgren said. “I think if we were able to get a guy like that we would be foolish not to look into it.”

Another obstacle to signing Sundin is the fact that the Flyers would have to move a substantial player out of the lineup. While Holmgren is reluctant to change his team to make room on the roster, but he says he would make an exception in this case.

“If you’re talking about a guy like Sundin, it’s a different ball game,” Holmgren said.

In 17 NHL seasons with Quebec and Toronto, Sundin has 555 goals and 766 assists.