The Vancouver Canucks will have a decision on their hands after this season, when legendary forwards Henrik and Daniel Sedin are up for a new contract. Their effect has been dwindling the last few years, and the Canucks are headed in a new direction, but the twins have something to tell the fan base who has cheered them for so long. They’re not going anywhere else. In a wonderful piece in the Players’ Tribune, Daniel states just that.
When the time is right, we will sit down with management and discuss it. People say our window for winning a Cup has closed, but we have said it before, and we will say it again. We won’t play anywhere else. If we are going to win a Stanley Cup, if we are going to achieve our dream, we’d only want it to be in Vancouver. If we did it anywhere else, I don’t think it would feel the same.
As we discussed in our recent Canucks Season Primer, the team will be looking to the future this year with players like Bo Horvat and Brock Boeser. They made their case for a rebuild last trade deadline when they moved Jannik Hansen and Alex Burrows for two prospects, and have brought in a number of free agents this summer who could be flipped at the deadline. While it’s certainly possible that a rejuvenated Sedin duo and upstart young group could make an improbably playoff run a reality, it’s more likely that the Canucks will hope to see their name at the top of the draft lottery next spring.
What that means for the Sedin’s future is unclear. They could retire after the season, riding off into the sunset after Daniel joins Henrik in the 1000-point club, likely to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame together someday, or they could sign new short-term deals with the Canucks to be part of the rebuild. Right now, their $7MM cap hits are limiting Vancouver’s ability to do certain things like acquire bad contracts along with assets, but one year incentive-based deals could find a nice middle ground for the two sides.
Whatever happens, it won’t be anywhere but Vancouver. The pair, that were drafted second and third overall after some draft floor work by Brian Burke back in 1999 have played a combined 2,473 regular season games for the Canucks, scoring 2,007 points.