If Canon won't make a successor to 1D2N matching Nikon D2 pricing, then they will deliberately leave a unique niche for Nikon D2 cameras. It would then make "perfect" sense to leave another niche for Nikon D200.
OTOH, I guess it is "only" a minority of camera buyers who purchase D200 or D2 as their first (D)SLR, but the majority of them first commit themselves to a brand by buying a low end camera and a few matching lenses. Thus Canon might not see it compulsory to directly compete with Nikon high end DSLRs.