Alex Edler- What happened?

[LeftCoast]

Nothing. He moves the puck, hits and puts up points like he's expected to do. He makes mistakes just like other defensman on his pay scale. He is our best overall dman. There is a problem with our fanbase if they honestly think he's our worst dman, however.

People fail to factor in that Edler (followed by Garrison and Hamhuis) play the most and the toughest minutes. Your game is far less exposed to mistakes when you are playing 16 minutes per game against 2nd and 3rd line opponents.

 

[13 others]

People fail to factor in that Edler (followed by Garrison and Hamhuis) play the most and the toughest minutes. Your game is far less exposed to mistakes when you are playing 16 minutes per game against 2nd and 3rd line opponents.

Yup. People constantly praise Tanev for his "smoothness" but he is not playing against 1st lines. He also provides zero offense and has the worst shot on the team. He's a good 5/6 dman but thats it. Edler >>> Tanev.

Bieksa is very mistake prone. One of the worst defensive defensman in the NHL. He makes about 2 disastrous turnovers a game. His saving grace is his ability to move the puck and jump into the rush. He scores at a decent clip.

Ballard is...underwhelming? Really he isn't good at much. I guess he's a pretty good skater but other than that he's small and often out of position. Provides next to nothing offensively.

So if you're looking for "our worst dman" It's usually one of these three on any given night.

 

[Fat Tony]

Yup. People constantly praise Tanev for his "smoothness" but he is not playing against 1st lines.

He was paired up with Edler against SJ. It was suggested that he was there to settle Edler down.

Ballard is...underwhelming? Really he isn't good at much. I guess he's a pretty good skater but other than that he's small and often out of position. Provides next to nothing offensively.

Ballard is average for our D. Bieksa and Tanev are sub-200 lbs.

 

[blendini]

Yup. People constantly praise Tanev for his "smoothness" but he is not playing against 1st lines. He also provides zero offense and has the worst shot on the team. He's a good 5/6 dman but thats it. Edler >>> Tanev.

Bieksa is very mistake prone. One of the worst defensive defensman in the NHL. He makes about 2 disastrous turnovers a game. His saving grace is his ability to move the puck and jump into the rush. He scores at a decent clip.

Ballard is...underwhelming? Really he isn't good at much. I guess he's a pretty good skater but other than that he's small and often out of position. Provides next to nothing offensively.

So if you're looking for "our worst dman" It's usually one of these three on any given night.

I agree with most of these points. We really need to consider the quality of offense these guys are playing against. I think the long layoff and the 'right side' experiment have hindered Edler's game. Also, does anyone know if he ever had surgery on his fingers? I'd heard that he was considering getting them fixed up during the summer.

Tanev is young and will improve over time, so he may end up being a 3/4 defensive D. So far, he hasn't shown much in the way of offense, but that may change.

I've never considered Bieksa a defensive D. His offense is great and he brings toughness to a rather soft D. Being on the right side is another big plus.

Ballard is the worst of the three and our bottom guy, although I do like his skating and think he has potential to be more offensive. He's been fine on the bottom pairing, but some would prefer a bigger guy like Alberts.

 

[B-rock]

Yup. People constantly praise Tanev for his "smoothness" but he is not playing against 1st lines. He also provides zero offense and has the worst shot on the team. He's a good 5/6 dman but thats it. Edler >>> Tanev.

Bieksa is very mistake prone. One of the worst defensive defensman in the NHL. He makes about 2 disastrous turnovers a game. His saving grace is his ability to move the puck and jump into the rush. He scores at a decent clip.

Ballard is...underwhelming? Really he isn't good at much. I guess he's a pretty good skater but other than that he's small and often out of position. Provides next to nothing offensively.

So if you're looking for "our worst dman" It's usually one of these three on any given night.

Not sure that Tanev should ever be in a discussion about our worst d-man on any given night. He's been moved up to the top pairing because he's a very steady d-man. He's not tough and he doesn't put up points yet, but he's far from our worst defender. I'll give you Bieksa and Ballard, although Kev has been outscoring his problems and has settled down lately, at least before his injury.

 

[dave babych returns]

Ballard is average for our D. Bieksa and Tanev are sub-200 lbs.

Uhh, that's charitable.

Ballard is our shortest defenseman, and by weight there are two who weigh less and four who weigh more (five actually but according to NHL.com Hamhuis outweighs him by 1 lb).

That's not average.

 

[LiveeviL]

Matchup with ToI in comparision lacks in this thread.

 

[Fat Tony]

Uhh, that's charitable.

Ballard is our shortest defenseman, and by weight there are two who weigh less and four who weigh more (five actually but according to NHL.com Hamhuis outweighs him by 1 lb).

That's not average.

Out of our 6 regular D, he's in the middle 2. Average.

 

[dave babych returns]

Out of our 6 regular D, he's in the middle 2. Average.

Sure, by the measure you cherry picked.. Another poster called Ballard small and you've moved the goalposts to dispute the claim that he is light.

 

[freakydave]

Edler is a decent yet inconsistent second pairing d-man who's about to be overpaid. Amazing how good goaltending has made guys like him and Bieksa rich.

+1
-I hate to say it but it's becoming clear that the Canucks live or die with their goaltending.A guy on the main boards asked if I would give up Edler for Vanek & I said yes.The kings won the cup scoring 3+ goals a game & quick playing lights out.The Canucks have the goaltending they need scoring & not from the D.

 

[Edo]

+1
-I hate to say it but it's becoming clear that the Canucks live or die with their goaltending.A guy on the main boards asked if I would give up Edler for Vanek & I said yes.The kings won the cup scoring 3+ goals a game & quick playing lights out.The Canucks have the goaltending they need scoring & not from the D.

The Kings defense was superb.

 

[freakydave]

The Kings defense was superb.

You mean the kings team defence right?

 

[deadinthewater]

Everyone calm down, Henrik will set him straight.

 

[PhilMick]

Everyone calm down, Henrik will set him straight.

Finally someone tries to toughen him up!

 

[Fat Tony]

Sure, by the measure you cherry picked.. Another poster called Ballard small and you've moved the goalposts to dispute the claim that he is light.

I didn't dispute that he is small. I dispute that it's any more of a handicap for him than it is for some of the other regular D.

 

[CanucksSayEh]

Looooooooooool Edler. It's at the point where I cringe to see him on the ice.

 

[LolClarkson*]

He should b benched before the playoffs

 

[FloydTheBarber]

Hmm so maybe the 2012 playoffs weren't an anomaly, perhaps it;s just the norm.

 

[nekyvGkOPaiWICTscLl6]

Scratch him once all the D are back. Seriously.

 

[MikeK]

I recommend you sit down and watch teams other than the Canucks. I'm not saying this to be pissy, I'm saying it because you would realize that Edler is a top d-man in the league and that any "top 2" d-man makes mistakes on a nightly basis. Some nights they are great, some nights, not so much.

Consider that every time the Canucks score, the other team's fan base is *****ing about how their "supposed top d-man" once again royally screwed up. It's hockey, for goals to be scored, mistakes need to be made. That's what happens in team games. The intent is to limit those mistakes as much as possible, but there will always be mistakes made, otherwise the game would be static and boring.

I think a lot of posters don't watch many games besides the Canucks. Those that do, realize that no team is perfect, nor does any team possess flawless players. It really does help to watch games with two other teams, to put things in perspective.

Back to the matter at hand, Edler is a good defenseman, he's not the best one in the league, but he's easily a top pairing d-man. Spend five minutes looking at other team's depth charts and you'll realize that Edler is a worthy top pairing d. http://forecaster.canada.com/faceoff/hockey/teamindex.cgi

HAHA. You're not nearly as smart as you think. Once you learn that opinions are not fact you'll be on the right path.

 

[Shareefruck]

I don't understand what happened-- he was such a smart, mistake-free defenseman when he was first breaking into the league (similar to Tanev now). I mean, that's where the exaggerated mini-Lidstrom comparisons came from.

 

[PearJuice*]

Nothing's changed with Edler. He's usually great, but he's always been prone to stretches of appallingly inadequate play. I'm sure the problem is all mental.

 

[Wheatley]

Nothing's changed with Edler. He's usually great, but he's always been prone to stretches of appallingly inadequate play. I'm sure the problem is all mental.

Yeah no big deal. He just has mental problems

People can shrug his poor play off right now, but when he plays like this in the playoffs again, and this time it costs us a game/series, you'll be singing a different tune.

 

[ahmon]

I don't understand what happened-- he was such a smart, mistake-free defenseman when he was first breaking into the league (similar to Tanev now). I mean, that's where the exaggerated mini-Lidstrom comparisons came from.

That was long long time ago.

and really he was only really good defensively with Mitchell for the first year and a bit.

once he was paired with Ohlund it started to go downhill. I think his defensive game just hasn't improved much at all.

I started noticing him playing scared and have these hesitant moments back in 2009.

People just look at his production which is very good, but his overall game is shaky.

His role on this team is simply TOO important to have someone "shaky".

 

[PearJuice*]

Yeah no big deal. He just has mental problems

People can shrug his poor play off right now, but when he plays like this in the playoffs again, and this time it costs us a game/series, you'll be singing a different tune.

That's not what I meant