It’s been just over a week since the Vancouver Canucks brought in Henrik and Daniel Sedin to their front office, and the hype is still just as high as it was on day one.
As we know, the two Vancouver legends didn’t have the smoothest of debuts into the NHL, and into the hearts of fans, but that didn’t stop them from working hard and paving their way to unbelievable careers. They are so loved now, and it’s almost easy to forget the constant criticism early on in their careers.
Fast-forward to the summer of 2021, and the newly-named Special Advisors within the Hockey Operations department are already expected to have an immediate impact on the Canucks organization, like they did for much of their playing careers.
Daniel and Henrik have endured their fair share of disrespect on and off the ice, from fellow players, media and fans, especially early on in their NHL tenures. What we should realize is that they almost never pushed back in these situations, where the average person would’ve most likely retaliated. They may have had an unfair reputation for being soft on the ice, but they are also known for their intelligence, maturity and patience, attributes that trump any outsider opinions of them.
Daniel Alfredsson on the Sedin twins :
— Rick Dhaliwal (@DhaliwalSports) February 11, 2020
Super smart, so intelligent. They can pick you apart, it was hard to cover them. They had so much patience. Real cool to play with them internationally.
This will help the Canucks in dealing with the front offices of other teams in the NHL. The current management group of this team has developed an unfavorable reputation in comparison to the rest of the league. A good example of this is the organization’s handling of the 2020 offseason, in which key free agent players who wanted to come back were ignored.
Those players then went on to sign with other teams because, understandably, they wanted financial security and didn’t want to wait.
With that in mind, Henrik and Daniel were already seeking advice from other front office staff, before they made any decisions to join the team, to see how they can avoid similar mistakes in the future.
During their first media availability in their new roles, Henrik offered this insight about Trevor Linden and Stan Smyl:
"“We talked to a lot of people. Trevor was one of them and Stan Smyl was another. And there were others, too.”"
Conferring with both Smyl and Linden, the twins sought out advice from current and former front office executives, which is undoubtedly a positive sign for Vancouver fans who are hoping that they don’t make the same mistakes as the former Canucks’ captain did previously.
With the Sedins’ reputation as intelligent people still very much intact, they have the chance to bring those smarts to the negotiating table, as well as to all the other areas that constitute running an NHL franchise.
The one blemish on this situation? They’ll be doing so under the guidance of current General Manager Jim Benning.
Regardless of who they’ll be working with, it’s still a huge step forward for the organization to have the Sedins back in action. The Canucks legends-turned-executives clearly haven’t lost their passion for the game, and that should bode well for the front office.
If Henrik and Daniel can bring the same smarts and patience off the ice as they did on it, fans should be much more confident that their team will be in good hands.
What are your thoughts, Canucks fans? How quickly will the Sedins be able to help turn this franchise around? Let us know in the comments!