Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Sedins approach career crossroads

sedinsgetty

Despite all the drama elsewhere, the Vancouver Canucks’ success still depends greatly on the Sedin twins’ ability to create offense.

At least, that’s the way it’s been for several years. The question is: how much longer will the facsimile forwards be the identical faces of the Canucks franchise? The 2013-14 season should have an enormous impact on that question, whether it’s Henrik and Daniel Sedin making the decision or the Canucks making that call for them.

The decline?

Both players’ $6.1 million cap hits are set to expire next summer. They’ll turn 33 in September, so it’s crucial for the Canucks to reach a consensus on their long-term value.

There has been plenty of debate during the last few years regarding whether the Sedins remain elite players or not.

Their increasing age implies that a decline is probable, but there’s a compelling counterargument that the Sedins’ cerebral cycling style could help them retain value more successfully than players who rely on sheer athletic ability.

Whether it’s their fault or not, the bottom line is that the duplicate duo’s point totals have stagnated, so the pair likely hopes for a high-scoring 2013-14 campaign.

The Torts effect

The Vancouver Sun’s Daniel Wagner surmises that the Canucks employed an overly complicated powerplay system that didn’t really build the Sedins’ strengths. Tortorella has had his own troubles getting seemingly talented players to score on the man advantage, but perhaps a new voice could revitalize that special teams unit.

Tortorella stated that the Sedins will block shots and kill penalties, but that might be a rarity in the grand scheme of things.

So, all things considered, the pairing’s roles should stay largely the same. The bigger factor might instead be how Tortorella communicates with them, then, as some might wonder how the Sedins will respond to his “demanding” nature. Their relationship with Tortorella is important when you consider the fact that two superstar contracts hang in the balance.
***

There are a number of variables that can make or break this scenario, but it all likely boils down to how the 2013-14 season plays out.

Follow James O’Brien @cyclelikesedins