Looking Back – August 2009

Darren Kennedy

2014-07-24

Looking back at August 2009 and the emergence of an unexpected superstar… Henrik Sedin

I can recall a draft in the fall of 2009 where I openly stated that the Sedin’s were “too old to build a team around.” They were 28 at the time, and if history was any indication, were approaching their decline. Of course with the benefit of hindsight this looks a tad foolish, as 2009 to 2013 represented the four best years of their careers.

Of the two, Daniel has always been the far easier asset to value. His propensity to shoot has given him a more well-rounded fantasy portfolio. Whereas Henrik, with his Joe Thornton-esque shot totals, can see his value move up and down wildly depending on the format.

This week I want to look back at August 2009. At the time, we were only a few months from Henrik Sedin becoming one of the five best multi-category players in the game, and arguably the most coveted points only option in fantasy.
His run as elite performer caught everyone (and me especially) off-guard.

In 2008-09 he finished with 22 goals, 60 assists for 82 points in 82 games. Great totals in virtually every format, but they in no way foretold the dramatic rise in production that was just around the corner. He and his brother had become consistent, very-good options in most formats. The kind of players you drafted in the early rounds but never seriously considered in the first.

That was about change.

Heading into the fall of 2009 Henrik had established himself as one of the league’s premier centermen. Considered a consensus top 30 pick in your pool. Dobber had him ranked 22nd overall:

Rank	Player	Team
1	Evgeni Malkin	PIT
2	Alexander Ovechkin	WAS
3	Sidney Crosby	PIT
4	Ilya Kovalchuk	ATL
5	Vincent Lecavalier	TB
6	Joe Thornton	SJ
7	Jason Spezza	OTT
8	Nicklas Backstrom	WAS
9	Dany Heatley	OTT
10	Pavel Datsyuk	DET
11	Ryan Getzlaf	ANA
12	Eric Staal	CAR
13	Jarome Iginla	CGY
14	Zach Parise	NJ
15	Marc Savard	BOS
16	Henrik Zetterberg	DET
17	Patrick Kane	CHI
18	Anze Kopitar	LA
19	Rick Nash	CBJ
20	Jeff Carter	PHI
21	Mike Richards	PHI
22	Henrik Sedin	VAN
23	Daniel Sedin	VAN
24	Martin St. Louis	TB
25	Alexander Semin	WAS
26	John Tavares	NYI
27	Marian Hossa	CHI
28	Jonathan Toews	CHI
29	Mike Ribeiro	DAL
30	Thomas Vanek	BUF
31	Mike Green	WAS
32	Paul Kariya	STL
33	Marian Gaborik	NYR
34	Ales Hemsky	EDM
35	Mike Cammalleri	MTL
36	Derek Roy	BUF
37	Corey Perry	ANA
38	Paul Stastny	COL
39	Daniel Briere	PHI
40	Patrick O’Sullivan	EDM
41	Patrick Marleau	SJ
42	Brad Boyes	STL
43	Olli Jokinen	CGY
44	Bobby Ryan	ANA
45	Devin Setoguchi	SJ
46	Steven Stamkos	TB
47	Shane Doan	PHO
48	Derick Brassard	CBJ
49	Jiri Hudler	DET
50	Daniel Alfredsson	OTT

Looking back at the names above him you can imagine the number of poolies left kicking themselves as the year wore on. I for one, was forced to look at our draft results knowing that I passed over him five or six times before he was eventually scooped in the mid-rounds.

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Heatley still had one more productive season to go in San Jose, but was on the edge of his precipitous decline. Mike Richards was coming off of a 30 goal, 50 assist season in which he looked like the next truly great multi-category star – he’s only broken 60 points twice since that time. There was talk of Lecavalier rebounding after a down 2008-09, but, sadly, his numbers have declined ever since. His point totals the last five seasons sit at; 70, 54, 49, 32 (lockout), and 37.

UPCOMING GAMES

Nov 21 - 19:11	WSH	vs	COL
Nov 21 - 19:11	CBJ	vs	T.B
Nov 21 - 19:11	OTT	vs	VGK
Nov 21 - 19:11	DET	vs	NYI
Nov 21 - 19:11	BOS	vs	UTA
Nov 21 - 19:11	N.J	vs	CAR
Nov 21 - 20:11	STL	vs	S.J
Nov 21 - 20:11	CHI	vs	FLA
Nov 21 - 21:11	CGY	vs	NYR
Nov 21 - 21:11	EDM	vs	MIN