A few weeks from his 37th birthday, Daniel Sedin says the plan is for him and his brother Henrik to finish their careers as Vancouver Canucks.
Sedin joined The Playbook on Sportsnet 650 Vancouver on Monday and was asked by host Jawn Jang if the brothers’ mindset was to retire in Vancouver.
“Yeah, that’s our mindset,” Sedin said. “I think we have a great situation here.
“I think we’re at a spot now where we’re on the way up again and for us to have a chance to help us be a successful team again is really exciting.”
The Sedin’s are entering the final year of their contracts and Daniel said they haven’t talked about what the future holds when those deals expire.
If they do retire, the brothers will go down as two of the greatest Vancouver Canucks of all time. They have combined for 2,473 games, 607 goals and 2,006 points. Daniel’s 370 goals are the most by any player in a Canucks’ uniform as are Henrik’s 1,020 points.
The brothers’ best days may be behind them (22-year-old Bo Horvat led the team in scoring last year), but Daniel says he hopes the young guys looking to take their spot can see Henrik and him as good examples of what it takes to be successful in the NHL.
“For me and Henrik, we always come in every year not expecting to make the lineup,” Sedin said. “We have to work hard in training camp. We have to come into camp in good shape. We have to be really good in the pre-season games. That’s always been our mindset.
“That needs to be the mindset for the young players too.”
One young player Sedin had high praise for was Brock Boeser, a forward who snuck into nine games at the end of the season after finishing his college career. Boeser had four goals and an assist in his quick NHL audition and seems poised to break out for the Canucks in his first full campaign.
Sedin said Boeser is going to have to fight the pressure that comes with being a known offensive player, but he thinks the rookie will be able to handle it.
“He’s a very good player but the tough thing now is that people expect him to be good,” Sedin said. “It will be really exciting to watch him in training camp. I think he has all the tools to be a very good player in this league.”
[relatedlinks]
