Vancouver Canucks: Henrik and Daniel Sedin Need to Produce Again

Henrik and Daniel Sedin usually lead the Vancouver Canucks in scoring, but lately their numbers — especially Daniel’s — have not been very good.

These are strange times for the Vancouver Canucks.

For starters, the team just lost their first game since Christmas. Earlier in the year, they had lost nine straight games. For that same team to later pull off a six-game win streak was pretty remarkable.

That should be cause for at least a minor celebration, right?

More from Editorials

• Which team won the Bo Horvat trade?
• What to expect from newcomers Anthony Beauvillier, Aatu Räty
• Back to the future: How the skate uniforms became a regular Canucks’ feature night
• Canucks kick off 2023 with disappointing 6-2 loss to Islanders
• 2nd period penalty trouble sinks Canucks in 4-2 loss against Winnipeg

Well, apparently not. Many people in Vancouver seemed determined to disbelieve what they were seeing their team accomplish.

There was good reason to disbelieve it, mind you. The best example of this came in the final win of the streak. Despite the Calgary Flames utterly destroying them on the shot clock, the Canucks still pulled off a seemingly impossible win, thanks to Ryan Miller and Markus Granlund.

Believable or not, the streak has now come to an end. It remains to be seen whether an extended losing streak will follow.

Sedin Struggles

Another strange sight: for the last month, Henrik Sedin and Daniel Sedin have not been the Canucks’ best offensive players.

Instead, Bo Horvat and Sven Baertschi have led the charge. They have combined for 25 points in the last 15 games for Vancouver. Henrik is next with nine points.

You probably expect Daniel to be right behind his brother in scoring during the last 30 days. But he isn’t — he’s eighth on the list, with only five points in the last 15 games.

Additionally, in that same time he took seven minor penalties (only Nikita Tryamkin took more). These are uncharacteristic numbers from Daniel, who has been the Canucks’ best goal scorer for almost a decade, and is usually drawing penalties, not taking them.

The gap between the two twins is a bit unusual. But, it is probably due to the fact that Henrik has four secondary assists, which are inflating his numbers.

The rest could have something to do with the Sedins’ new linemate:

With shot-attempt numbers that bad, it’s no wonder the twins have only combined for three assists in their last five.

But even if Jayson Megna is dragging down both twins, he was only on their line for six games. The Sedins were cooling off before the latest injury Jannik Hansen.

Perhaps it is simply a run of bad luck. Daniel’s shooting percentage in the last 15 games is only 6.7% — well below his career average of 11.5%.

Next: Win Streak Comes Down to Luck

Either way, Vancouver needs their two best scorers to produce again.

It’s great to see Baertschi and Horvat carry the team this last month. But if the twins stay unproductive for much longer, the Vancouver Canucks could be in trouble.