Mats Sundin was born on February 13, 1971 in Stockholm, the capital city of Sweden. Growing up in the Nordic country, he grew up playing hockey. He moved up the ranks and played with the Djurgardens IF Stockholm of the Swedish Elite League. In 1989 he was drafted by the Quebec Nordiques of the National Hockey League. Sunding became the first European to be drafted first overall in the 1989 draft. He began playing with the Nordiques in 1990-91 and did not disappoint, scoring 58 points in his rookie year. His next full season was even better, almost doubling his stats with 103 points. A year before the Nords moved to Denver to become the Colorado Avalanche, they traded Sundin in 1994 along with Garth Butcher, Todd Warriner and a draft choice to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for Wendel Clark, Sylvain Lefebvre, Landon Wilson and a Leafs draft pick.

Mats excelled with the Toronto Maple Leafs, becoming a key player in their successfull teams. As the overall scoring has been going down in the NHL, Sundin's invdividual numbers have been going lower. But, he has been a consistent offensive performer who has also added better two-way play to his game. His leadership and skill have been key in Toronto's success over the last decade. He has also been a seven time NHL All-Star selection and is a central figure of the Maple Leafs.