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I've talked quite a bit lately about the Sedin twins out in Vancouver and why they're so important to the Canucks' success, but what I haven't done is pull out the numbers and compare them to some of the top forwards in the game.

They don't receive much credit around the league for it, but based on this season's numbers, they've been two of the top performers in the NHL.

First, the counting numbers, which are pretty good in their own right:

1. Daniel and Henrik both finished with 82 points, good enough to be tied for 13th in the NHL during the season.
   
2. Putting aside the limitations of plus-minus for the moment, they also finished 14th and 17th among forwards in that category as well.
3. The only players Daniel had fewer even-strength points than this season were Malkin, Ovechkin, Crosby, Parise, Datsyuk and Havlat. Add Iginla to the list for those ahead of Henrik.

That's pretty impressive.

Consider, too, that the Sedins have for the most part been rolled out against other teams' top lines (with a varied group of linemates) and that puts them in a class with some of the best players in the NHL.

Meaning that, yes, they're probably worth those $6.5-million deals we've heard so much about this season — provided they show up this postseason.

So far, so good.

Their game of cycling the puck and playing a unique man-on-man type of offence doesn't translate as well to the power play, and that's the only reason we don't see them finish among the top five or six scorers and challenge for the Art Ross. But, on a team that's finally getting some offence from elsewhere, that hasn't mattered as much lately.

One underused stat over at Behind The Net is +/-ON/60 (goals scored while on the ice minus goals against while on the ice all per 60 minutes of even-strength play), a measure that, if you only take into account players that play against difficult opposition (>=0.02 Qual. Comp.), gives you an idea of which forwards outscored tough opponents most often this season:

I think Blues coach Andy Murray had the right idea coming into the series to match his checkers — McClement, Steen and Crombeen — against the Sedins, as combating their even-strength dominance has to be priority No. 1 defensively. So far, however, it hasn't worked, and Daniel and Henrik are already leading the way in even-strength points the way they always seem to.

Part of Murray's problem has been trying to get the right matchups on the road, a tough task for any coach, and I believe only one of the twins' goals came with the checkers out there. My guess is the Sedins will have a tougher time during Games 3 and 4 in St. Louis.

As for those contracts: Should Vancouver go on a run, the smart money's on GM Mike Gillis ponying up to keep them in the fold. A tandem as good as the Sedins is tough to find, and the fact they're underrated keeps their price more reasonable than it would otherwise be.