To paraphrase William Shakespeare, parting can be such sweet sorrow. It may not be easy, but the time has come for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Mats Sundin to part ways.

This is not Sundin's fault. The 36-year-old Swede is still the Leafs' best player, and he has served as the face of the franchise both on and off the ice for the past 13 seasons. He has always been a class act and a leader, and he is the heart and soul of the Toronto Maple Leafs. But the Leafs, as they are presently constituted, are just not working.

Sundin's contract is up at the end of this season and he is eligible to be an unrestricted free agent this summer. He also has a no-trade clause he would have to waive, but if Sundin is smart, he will look at the big picture and waive it. The Leafs captain would be a perfect addition for a contending team trying to push it's way over the top at the trade deadline. He can make a difference both on the ice and in the locker room. Sundin will be 37 later this month. How many productive seasons does he have left in his Hall of Fame career? This is his 17th NHL season and he has never won the Stanley Cup. In fact, he has never even reached the Cup Finals. Guess what, the Maple Leafs aren't going to get him there this year (or next year for that matter). If Sundin wants a real shot at winning the Cup, the time is now but the place is not Toronto.

As for the Leafs, they are a team in need of a complete overhaul. They have a older team that features too many overpaid and underproductive veterans. The Leafs will not become contenders unless major changes are made to the team's roster and culture. Sundin is not part of the problem, but at his age, he may not be able to be part of the solution either.

The first step has been taken in Toronto. John Ferguson Jr. has been let go and Cliff Fletcher has been named interim GM. Now, Fletcher has to start making fundamental changes to the team. There are plenty of players the Leafs would love to move but their large contracts will make that difficult. Maybe they can get a little something in return for one of their overpriced defensemen although the contract will make it tough for them to get full value. They could probably trade backup goalie Andrew Raycroft although his trade value is only decent. The player they would get the most in return for is Mats Sundin.

There are a lot of parallels between the Leafs today and the 2003-04 New York Rangers. The Rangers also needed to rebuild from scratch. The team had missed the playoffs for seven straight seasons. The Rangers also had a lot of veterans who were making a lot of money but weren't producing anymore on the ice. Like the Leafs, people said the team could not rebuild. New York fans, they said, would not tolerate paying high ticket prices to watch young unknowns lose game after game. Still, GM Glen Sather and Assistant GM Don Maloney made some painful decisions. Future Hall of Famer Brian Leetch was traded. Other high-salaried veterans like Alex Kovalev and Matthew Barnaby were traded. Draft picks and prospects were acquired.

After the lockout, experts all picked the Rangers to finish last in the league. Instead, the Rangers turned their team and made the playoffs. They even led the Atlantic Division most of the year before injuries caused the team to tail off late in the season. Still, the last place finish was averted and the rebuilding was relatively quick. The trading of Leetch hurt and it looked so wrong for Rangers fans to see their favorite player on Garden ice in a Bruins' jersey but the move helped the team in the long run. This year, Leetch's jersey was retired in a moving ceremony. The end of career trade was only an afterthought.

The Leafs have also said that fans in Toronto would never accept a major rebuilding plan. That doesn't give Leafs fans enough credit. Maple Leafs fans are among the most knowledgeable and most sophisticated in hockey. After more than 40 years of waiting for another Stanley Cup winner, I think they are more than capable of realizing that sometimes you have to take a big step back to take two steps forward. Believe me, the Air Canada Center will be full. There is plenty of demand for tickets. Besides, watching young players struggle who have bright futures and the potential to get better is preferable to watching older players struggle and hoping they can somehow miraculously find their past glory and right the ship.

It may hurt at first but Leaf fans should let Sundin go, get as many young players and they can for him and root for whatever team he goes to this year to win him that elusive Stanley Cup ring. It should be a win-win situation for both the Leafs and Mats Sundin. Besides, if Sundin really loves Toronto that much, he could always re-sign with the Leafs this summer as a free agent.