Give Sedins time to decide their futures

DALLAS — If heaven can wait, so can the Sedins’ retirement.

Their Vancouver team, which plays at Dallas today, may not win much anymore, but Henrik and Daniel can still play. On Friday, Daniel Sedin recorded his 50th point of this NHL season. That kind of production means you’re still really good at hockey.

Whether these are the final games of the Sedins’ career or not, there is a lot of quality hockey left in those two brothers. It doesn’t always seem that way, mostly because they are compared with what they once were — and that was magnificent.

People would have an entirely different perspective if the Sedins spent their best years averaging 50 points, like, say, Patric Hornqvist of the Pittsburgh Penguins. But, apparently, the Sedins are washed up, while 31-year-old Hornqvist and his 40 points just signed a five-year extension averaging $5.3 million a season. Perception is funny.

What happens next in their careers remains guesswork, but they don’t need to make their decision before the end of this season. Some say they owe it to fans and teammates to let everyone know, allowing for an end-ofyear blowout sendoff.

But they owe Vancouver nothing. They’ve given everything they have to the team and the community. Give them something back — time and room to breathe.

If they choose to retire in the off-season, they can come back next year and get ovations for days. It would be more satisfying then, anyway, to recall their careers than to do it now during all this losing and bleakness.

This is probably the worst point in the season for them to be making decisions. It’s a point Vancouver president Trevor Linden, who has been through it himself, raised before he had any idea how bad the team would become and how raw the emotions could be for two proud players experiencing unprecedented losing.

In January, Linden said this on radio: “They’ve earned the right to make the decision when they feel it’s right, and that’s likely a few weeks after the season, when they’ve had some time to digest everything.”

It’s important to keep in mind that it is the Canucks’ decision, too. They may conclude they need to move on to take a next step in their rebuild. This would manifest itself if the management were to tell the Sedins they expect them to have significantly reduced roles next season.

The Sedins are already down to 12 even-strength minutes a game. If you tell them that’s going to be cut and they’d be off the power play, everyone knows they’re not going to sign off on that to return.It would be squeezing them out. Generally, 50-point players don’t leave the NHL behind. Linden held on for his final three seasons, averaging less than 12 minutes a night and fewer than 18 points.

There’s no easy answer for what is best for the team. It’s complex and layered, and it depends on the readiness of players who aren’t even on the team yet, such as Elias Pettersson and Jonathan Dahlen.

If the Sedins moving on makes room for those two playing big important minutes then it has merit. But if this is about more ice time and roster spots for players such as Brendan Leipsic, Tyler Motte and Darren Archibald, then it’s absurd.

The Sedins are at the perfect point in their careers to benefit a rebuilding team. No one wants to see the Canucks comprised of players who are all 23 and younger. It makes sense to have veterans on short-term, costeffective deals. The Sedins are set up to be used just like that, on a one-year deal.