Henrik Sedin - Playing Style

Playing Style

Throughout his career, Henrik has scored more assists than goals. Known as a playmaker, he starts play sequences that lead to goals with passes to his teammates. Many of the plays he generates are created off the cycle. Henrik's familiarity with Daniel's play enhances his effectiveness; the pair are known for their ability to find each other intuitively with passes, often without looking.

Beginning around the 2008–09 season, Henrik began to expand his skill-set by scoring more goals. His increased tendency to shoot was given an extra push when Daniel suffered the first major injury of his career early in the 2009–10 season, forcing Henrik to play without his brother and consequently pass less often. He recorded the first two 20-goal seasons of his career in 2008–09 and 2009–10, and increased his shot totals.

With his offensive skill the prime component of his game, Henrik is known to avoid initiating contact with opposing players. Early in their career, he and Daniel were knocked off the puck easily, leading many in the media to refer to them as the "Sedin Sisters". As a result, players have often taken advantage of the brothers' lack of physicality by playing aggressively against them. This once led Canucks general manager Brian Burke to publicly complain, commenting during a 2002 playoff series against the Detroit Red Wings, "'Sedin' is not Swedish for 'punch me or headlock me in a scrum'." As their careers progressed, the Sedins have worked on their strength, improving their puck possession and allowing them to play more effectively.