It’s crazy to think it has been 27 years since the fate of the Vancouver Canucks was changed forever.

The 1999 NHL Draft will go down as one of the weakest drafts in league history. The infamous Patrick Stefan went first-overall, Pavel Brendl went No. 4 to the New York Rangers, and Tim Connolly went fifth to the New York Islanders.

However, in the middle of that rather mediocre start to the draft, the Canucks selected two players who would lead the franchise for well over a decade. Then-general manager Brian Burke swung a deal to obtain the No. 2 pick, to go along with the third-overall pick, which they received after an abysmal 1998-99 campaign. With the second and third picks in the draft, Burke took MoDo Hockey stars Daniel and Henrik Sedin.

How that came together is the stuff of legend. Burke told the story during the short-lived Sportsnet digital series “Hey Burkie” almost five years ago. 

Burke explained that he first heard about the Sedins from Thomas Gradin, former Canuck who was back in Sweden. Burke went to watch the twins play for Sweden at the 1999 IIHF World Junior Championship. While Daniel and Henrik finished third and fifth, respectively, in tournament scoring, Burke wasn’t impressed by how they looked against Canada in a semifinal loss.

“They got a lot of points against, you know, [Belarus] and [Kazakhstan] and some of the other teams that were in the tournament, but not against the good teams. So I told our scouts I’m trading the pick.”

Thanks to a 23-47-12 record, the Canucks were given the No. 3 pick, behind the dead-last Tampa Bay Lightning and expansion Atlanta Thrashers. Burke still had his mind set on acquiring assets for his spot on the draft until he travelled to Norway for that year’s Men’s World Championship to see the Sedins play in senior competition. It’s safe to say he was impressed with what the brothers were able to do.

“First shift, you see it with this twin thing that they do, and I don’t know what else to call it. They’re passing pucks to areas where no one’s anywhere near the puck, and one of them skates right onto it. And I was like, ‘Good Lord, now I get it.'”

Ironically, Burke travelled with staff from the Chicago Blackhawks, who held the fourth overall pick, including their GM, Bob Murray. The group discussed the Sedins, which eventually led the two sides to agree to a trade. Vancouver sent defenceman Bryan McCabe and its first-round pick in 2000 to Chicago for the fourth-overall pick.

Burke admitted that the Hawks were interested in Vancouver’s pick before the deal went down.

“[Murray] tried to get my pick first,” Bruke said. “He said, ‘Would you trade me three?’ I said, ‘No, but you’re going to trade me four.’ He said, ‘It’s going to cost you a fortune.’ So, Bryan McCabe, I hated trading him. He was in his prime then, a great kid, great player.”

Then Burke realized he needed to move higher up the board in order to ensure he got both Sedins. He called Lightning GM Rick Dudley, asking for the top pick. His initial counteroffer was the No. 4 pick, along with second- and fourth-round picks. Burke nixed the idea of giving up a second, and, heading into draft day, Burke was feeling the pressure.

“I went to bed not having the deal. I thought, ‘I’m getting fired for sure. I just traded Bryan McCabe and a first for Pavel Brendel’ – who was the next pick in the draft.”

However, prior to the first round, Dudley agreed to Burke’s offer – two third-round picks and the No. 4 pick for the first-overall selection. While that trade was being approved, Burke went to Thrashers GM Don Waddell. With this being the franchise’s first-ever draft, the team certainly wanted to make a splash.

“‘Do you want to be the star of the draft?'”, Burke said to Waddell. “Donnie said, ‘Well, I’ve seen you running around. I have a pretty good idea who’s going to be the star of this draft.’ I said, ‘Do you want to pick first?’ … No expansion team had ever picked first overall. So he said, ‘What do I have to pay to pick first overall?’ I said, ‘I have spent on draft picks like a drunken sailor. I need a third back.’ So we did the deal.”

So, after Waddell and the Thrashers selected Stefan at No. 1, Burke’s chaotic plan came to fruition, taking Daniel and Henrik second and third overall. Burke still says he messed up the order in which they were announced.

“I drafted them in the wrong sequence. Hank was a better player than Danny, and we took Danny first.”

The Sedins went on to be two of the most prominent players in franchise history. Both reached 1,000 points. Henrik won the Hart and Art Ross Trophies in 2009-10, with Daniel winning the Art Ross and Ted Lindsay Award the following year. The brothers led Vancouver all the way to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final in 2011, and were later inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame together. Now, they’re hoping to rejuvenate their team as co-presidents of hockey operations.

Now, all these years later, the Canucks head into a draft in a similar spot. This past year, Vancouver went 25-49-8, the fewest number of victories since the 1998-99 campaign. While the team finished last in the NHL, the Canucks failed to win the draft lottery and were granted the third-overall pick. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like new GM Ryan Johnson has an opportunity to draft any difference-making twins this time around.

You can watch the full animated video of the “Hey Burkie” clip here: