Daniel Sedin
Daniel Hans Sedin is a Swedish ice hockey executive and former winger who played his entire 17-season National Hockey League career with the Vancouver Canucks from 2000 to 2018. Born and raised in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden, Sedin and his identical twin brother Henrik played together throughout their careers; the pair were renowned for their effectiveness as a tandem. During his career, Daniel was known as a goal-scorer, while Henrik was known as a playmaker. Sedin tallied 393 goals and 648 assists in 1,306 games played in the NHL, ranking him as the Canucks' second-highest points scorer all time, behind only his brother Henrik.
Sedin began his professional career in the Swedish Hockey League with Modo Hockey in 1997 and was co-recipient, with Henrik, of the 1999 Guldpucken as Swedish player of the year. He played four seasons with Modo, helping the club to two consecutive appearances in the Le Mat Trophy Finals, in 1999 and 2000, where they lost both times. Selected second overall by the Canucks in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft, Sedin moved to the NHL in the 2000–01 season. He spent his entire NHL career in Vancouver, and in 2016 became the club's all-time top goal scorer. After emerging as a top player in the club during the 2005–06 season, Sedin since recorded six consecutive campaigns of at least 20 goals and 70 points. In 2011, he won the Art Ross Trophy as the League's leading point-scorer and the Ted Lindsay Award as the best player in the League, as voted by fellow players. Sedin was also nominated for the Hart Memorial Trophy as the League's most valuable player. In Sweden, he and Henrik were awarded the Victoria Scholarship as the country's athletes of the year. Alongside his brother, Daniel was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2022.
Internationally, Sedin has competed on the Swedish national ice hockey team. In addition to being a three-time Winter Olympian, he has appeared in two European Junior Championships, two World Junior Championships and four World Championships. He won gold medals at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin and 2013 IIHF World Championship in Stockholm. Sedin earned a silver medal at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi and two World Championship bronze medals, at the 1999 and 2001 editions.
Early life
Daniel Sedin was born on 26 September 1980, in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden, six minutes after his identical twin brother, Henrik. The pair have two older brothers, Stefan and Peter. Their father, Tommy, is a school vice-principal and also played for Modo Hockey in the 1960s, while his mother, Tora, is a nurse. Daniel began playing organized hockey with Henrik when they were eight. They did not regularly play on the same line until Daniel switched from centre to wing at 14. Daniel and Henrik both attended high school at the Nolaskolan Gymnasium in Sweden while playing professionally for Modo.Playing career
Modo Hockey (1997–2000)
Aged 16, Daniel and Henrik began their professional careers in 1997–98 with Modo Hockey of the Swedish Hockey League. Daniel recorded 12 points over 45 games during his rookie season. In his second professional year, he led Modo in scoring with 42 points in 50 games, helping the club to its second regular season title in team history. Daniel then added 12 points in 13 playoff games as Modo advanced to the Le Mat Trophy Finals, where they lost to Brynäs IF. At the end of the campaign, Daniel and Henrik were named co-recipients of the Guldpucken, the Swedish player of the year award.The Sedins were considered top prospects for the 1999 NHL Entry Draft. Rated as the top draft-eligible players from Europe, they were expected to be top five selections and expressed a desire to play for the same team. As they were unlikely to be picked by the same team, their agent, Mike Barnett, president of international talent agency IMG, presented them with two options to circumvent the usual NHL draft process, allowing them to play together. The first option was for the pair to enter the 1999 Draft and not sign with their respective NHL clubs for two years, allowing them to become unrestricted free agents. This option required that they play junior hockey in North America, which was not their intention. Barnett also suggested either Henrik or Daniel opt out of the 1999 Draft, hoping that the team that selected the first twin would select the other the following year. On the possibility of the Sedins' playing for separate teams, Vancouver Canucks Scout Thomas Gradin commented, "They're good enough to play with anyone, but separately their capacity might decrease by 10 or 15 percent." Nevertheless, Henrik and Daniel both entered the 1999 Draft expecting to be selected by separate teams. However, then-Canucks general manager Brian Burke already possessed the third overall pick and through a series of transactions he obtained the second overall pick. He used these second and third overall picks to select Daniel and Henrik, respectively. Gradin notified them of the Canucks' intentions five minutes before the Draft. Although Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Rick Dudley was ready to make Daniel his first overall choice before opening negotiations, he was convinced by Burke and Barnett that Daniel would not sign unless his brother was on the same team.
On 27 July 1999, a month following the Draft, Daniel and Henrik signed identical three-year, US$1 million contracts with the Canucks. As the contract did not require them to begin playing in Vancouver immediately, they announced on 12 August they would return to Sweden to play one more season with Modo. During the 1999–2000 season, Daniel finished second in team scoring with 45 points in 50 games, two points behind Henrik. The two brothers played on a line during the season with New York Islanders prospect Mattias Weinhandl. In the 2000 playoffs, Daniel added a team-leading eight goals and 14 points. He recorded two goals and two assists in the deciding game of the semifinals against Brynäs IF, a 6–3 win for Modo. Modo made their second straight finals appearance, where they lost the playoff championship to Djurgårdens IF in three-straight games.
Vancouver Canucks (2000–2018)
Early career and adjusting (2000–2006)
The 2000–01 season was Daniel's and first season with the Canucks and in the NHL. His NHL debut was the team's first game of the 2000–01 campaign on 5 October 2000, a 6–3 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers. Daniel and Henrik became the fourth pair of twins to have played in the NHL. Three days later, Daniel scored his first career NHL goal against goaltender Dan Cloutier of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Assisted by Henrik, the goal tied the game at 4–4 with 1:13 minutes left to go in a 5–4 regulation win. On 30 November, he suffered a shoulder injury, sidelining him for four games. During his recovery, he was reprimanded by Canucks head coach Marc Crawford, who told him that playing through pain is part of being in the NHL. Later in the season, he missed an additional three games due to a back injury, shortening his rookie season to 75 games. He became the first rookie in 2000–01 to reach 20 goals when he scored on 21 March 2001, in a 1–1 tie against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Finishing the campaign with that goal total, he tied for second among League rookies in scoring with Shane Willis of the Carolina Hurricanes, behind Brad Richards of the Tampa Bay Lightning. He also had 14 assists for 34 points in total. Making his Stanley Cup playoff debut on 12 April against the Presidents' Trophy-winning and eventual Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche, Daniel his first playoff assist and point with an assist on an Ed Jovanovski goal in the opening game of the first-round series, a 5–4 loss for the Canucks. He added his first NHL playoff goal in game three of the series on 16 April as the Canucks were eventually eliminated by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Avalanche in a four-game sweep. He and Henrik played primarily on the Canucks' third line. Daniel received one third-place vote from the Professional Hockey Writers' Association for the Calder Memorial Trophy as NHL rookie of the year, finishing eighth in award balloting overall.Shortly into the 2001 off-season in May 2001, Daniel underwent surgery for a herniated disc in his lower back, from which he suffered during the 2001 World Championships in Germany. In his second NHL season, Daniel struggled with the lowest goals total of his career, with nine. The campaign included a 25-game stretch without a goal between mid-October and the end of November 2001. With 23 assists, he had 32 points overall. Vancouver finished with the eighth and final seed in the Western Conference for the second consecutive year. Facing the Presidents' Trophy-winning and eventual Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings in the first round of the 2002 playoffs, they were eliminated in six games.
In 2002–03, Daniel continued his point-scoring pace of the previous two campaigns with 14 goals and 17 assists for 31 points in 79 games. Vancouver finished the season fourth overall in the West and advanced to the second round for the first time in Daniel's career defeating the fifth-seeded St. Louis Blues in the first round in seven games. During the 2003 playoffs, he appeared in a career-high 14 playoff games and recorded six points, as the Canucks were upset in seven games by the sixth-seeded Minnesota Wild. Daniel and Henrik were re-signed in the off-season to one-year, US$1.125 million contracts on 29 July 2003.
The Sedins began the 2003–04 season on a line with first-year player Jason King. The trio were dubbed the "Mattress Line" and formed the Canucks' second scoring line until King was reassigned to the team's minor league affiliate midway through the season. Daniel was awarded his first penalty shot on 17 January 2004, in a game against the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. He was stopped by goaltender Jean-Sébastien Giguère as Anaheim went on to win the game 2–1. On 24 February, Daniel recorded his first NHL career hat-trick with a four-goal effort in a 4–2 win over the Detroit Red Wings. Over all 82 games played, Daniel increased his production to 18 goals, 36 assists and 54 points. The Canucks won the Northwest Division title in the regular season and were the third seed in the West Overall, before losing to the sixth-seeded Calgary Flames in the first round of the playoffs. Daniel recorded a goal and two assists in the seven-game series.
Daniel and Henrik were re-signed to one-year, US$1.25 million contracts on 10 September 2004. However, due to the 2004–05 lockout, Daniel returned to Sweden to play for Modo, along with Henrik and their Canucks teammate Markus Näslund. He finished the season with 33 points in 49 games, fourth in team scoring behind Peter Forsberg, Mattias Weinhandl and Henrik.
When NHL play resumed in 2005–06, Daniel returned to the Canucks and scored 22 goals, 49 assists and 71 points in all 82 contests played. He tied for third in team point-scoring with Todd Bertuzzi, behind Henrik and Näslund. His scoring success that season was influenced, in part, by the signing of winger Anson Carter, who played on the Sedins' line and led the team in goal-scoring. The trio matched the scoring pace of the Canucks' top line of Näslund, Bertuzzi and Brendan Morrison. Vancouver's head coach at the time, Marc Crawford, recalled that season as marking the Sedins' ascent to leaders on the team, stating that "by the end of that year, they definitely were our top guys. They had surpassed Näslund and Bertuzzi." Despite the brothers' individual achievements, the Canucks missed the playoffs for the first time in their careers as the Canucks missed the 2006 playoffs by just three points in the standings. Despite the Sedins' success with Carter in the season, the Canucks did not re-sign him after the season concluded.