Goaltending ‘controversies’ and questions about the Sedins are annual traditions in Vancouver, so it was quite fitting to see the launch of a new radio station in the area on Labor Day include an underlying theme around the latter.
Sportsnet 650 debuted in the market on Monday, which should provide stimulating competition for sports radio listeners.
Among the guests on the station’s inaugural day included Canucks general manager Jim Benning, incoming head coach Travis Green, and Daniel Sedin.
Daniel and Henrik Sedin are in the final seasons of their respective four-year, $28 million contracts, which include no-move clauses.
They’ll be turning 37 years old later this month and are coming off campaigns they know weren’t their best performances.
The Canucks are also clearly a rebuilding team that will be hard-pressed to compete for a playoff position this season.
Combine those elements together, and it’s natural to wonder what the future holds for the twins, who are pillars of the community off the ice.
“They’ve been a big part of the organization through the years,” noted Benning. “We’ve had conversations with them. They’re excited about the moves we made this summer and going into the season.
“But like I’ve said since I’ve taken this job: we’re not moving the Sedins. Unless they come to me at some point and they say, ‘We want to move on,’ … we’re not going to go to them and ask them to waive their no-trades.
“We’ll probably by the start of the year make an announcement toward that, but we’re not going to approach them for them to move on to another team.”
Benning was asked to clarify what he meant by making “an announcement.”
“When I say an announcement, I’m saying basically that because there’s going to be all of this talk throughout the whole season about them moving on at the deadline and stuff,” reiterated Benning. “They’ve been Canucks their whole lives. They love the Vancouver Canucks. They’re excited about our young players and they want to see this thing through with us.”
A follow-up question here asked if the Canucks would be comfortable extending the Sedins on a one-year deal, which is something the forwards have been eligible to receive since July 1.
“We haven’t gotten to that point yet,” said the general manager. “When I’ve talked to them, they want to see how they feel this year, what kind of years they have, how the team performs. I guess over the course of the year we could approach that with them.”
Even if a contract extension isn’t reached before the trade deadline, it’s highly unlikely the Canucks could even facilitate a trade of the twins to a contender without retaining huge chunks of their salaries.
And to be clear, the Sedins have given zero indication they’d even want to go anywhere else.
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