Henrik Sedin is having the Sediniest season of his career

Mar 8 2018, 7:28 am

Henrik gonna Henrik.

If you’re like me, you’ve mumbled that to yourself a few times watching Henrik Sedin play for the Vancouver Canucks for the past 18 years.

The team’s all-time points leader, he can frustrate you by just how unselfish he is at times.

“Why didn’t he SHOOT?”

Fans have said that to Daniel Sedin a few times over his career, too.

You forgive Henrik though, because he makes enough plays of pure genius to make up for the misses. One of the best playmakers of his generation, Henrik ranks 27th all-time with 824 career assists.

But at age 37, Henrik is taking unselfishness to a new level this season.

He’s having the ‘Sediniest’ season of his career.

Through 66 games, Henrik has 43 points, but only two of them are goals. Even for him, that’s drastic.

Henrik hasn’t scored fewer than 10 goals in a season since 2002-03, when he notched eight. Last season, he scored 15.

It speaks to the playmaking ability of Henrik that hardly anyone has noticed he has gone 48 games without a goal – a career high.

If he doesn’t score another goal in the final 16 games of the season, the Canucks captain would set a new NHL record for fewest goals in a season when recording 40+ assists. The record is currently held by a pair of defencemen, in Gordie Roberts and Kimmo Timonen.

Part of the reason why Henrik’s goal-scoring has dried up is tied to the fact that he’s stopped shooting. He has just 53 shots on goal this year, meaning he’s averaging fewer than one per game. He’s on pace to record the fewest single-season shots of his career – even less than the lockout-shortened season in 2013.

It may sound like I’m making fun of the future Hall of Famer, and really that’s not my intention (although it is kind of funny).

The reality is that Henrik’s having a good year. He still plays a vital role for the Canucks, even at his advanced age.

In fact, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Henrik could lead the Canucks in scoring at the end of this season. He’s currently third, three points behind Daniel, and 12 points back of the injured Brock Boeser.

In the last year of their contracts, we don’t know if this is the last season for Henrik and Daniel. With time running out on their careers, appreciate every last ounce of Sedinery you get to see.

And appreciate how Henrik can help a team, even without shooting.

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