Player Discussion Alexander Edler | Pending free agent, possible TDL commodity. What should be done?

What should be done with Alexander Edler?


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VanCity Millionaires

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Oct 4, 2005
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I was at the game last night (quarter season ticket holder) and one thing that was more apparent than any other was the play of Edler. This is not a new phenomena either, as I feel he has been trending this way for a while.

I lost count of the number of times he couldn't hold the blue-line. He looked generally disinterested, and skated around aimlessly for shift after shift. He's out there to collect a pay-cheque and doesn't seem to care at all.

We've got him on the books for another two years at 5M, at which point he'll be 32-33 years old. Do we hope a new coach will light a fire under his ass? Do we beg and plead him to waive his NMC and try and move him while he has some value? Or do we ride out the contract and wish him well in 2 years time?

Thoughts?
 

rypper

21-12-05 it's finally over.
Dec 22, 2006
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For all the negatives, we won't find another defenseman who plays his minutes, as well as he does, for that cap hit.
 

Diamonddog01

Diamond in the rough
Jul 18, 2007
11,014
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Vancouver
I'm torn regarding Edler - he would get us a decent return which the team could use...however as was just noted we don't have anyone who can play his minutes and I feel he's played quietly well over the past few years.

We could move a LS defender if Juolevi is ready...Edler would garner a better return than Hutton so I suppose I'd reluctantly be in favour of moving him depending on the return.
 

Just A Bit Outside

Playoffs??!
Mar 6, 2010
16,176
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At best a #2 on a good team.

Still great value for his Cap Hit.

IMO, he pisses people off cause they've seen better from him. I think his back injury and suspension really screwed him up.
 

MS

1%er
Mar 18, 2002
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He's a workhorse for this team and does a pretty damn good job most of the time.

Yup.

He stunk last night and has the odd game where he channels the brutal 2013-14 Edler who had completely mentally checked out, but generally he's been a massive workhorse for this team who has done a terrific job this season. And when you play 25 minutes/game for a bottom-3 game, yeah, those games will probably happen to anyone.

The main reason we're 'competitive' is that we have two defenders in Edler and Tanev who have taken 3rd pairing guys in Stecher and Sbisa as partners for most of this season and managed to carry those pairings well. Without those two guys, we're probably in Colorado territory.

That said, wow does Edler ever suck on the PP. Should never play there again.
 

DL44

Status quo
Sep 26, 2006
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Edler is one of the most taken for granted players on this team.

All situation work horse. Watch any game and focus on each team's #1 dman.
(altho timing is off since the next game is v Doughty who is all over the ice)...
 
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MS

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Mar 18, 2002
53,367
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Vancouver, BC
At best a #2 on a good team.

Still great value for his Cap Hit.

IMO, he pisses people off cause they've seen better from him. I think his back injury and suspension really screwed him up.

The past couple years have been the best he's ever been.

People just look at his lower stats (which were propped up by playing on the most dominant PP in the NHL at a time when far more penalties were called) and think he's 'gotten worse'. And remember him smashing Drew Doughty in the playoffs once and act like it happened all the time, when even at the time it was a major outlier play.
 

Street Hawk

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Feb 18, 2003
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Edler is one of the most taken for granted players on this team.

All situation work horse. Watch any game and focus on each team's #1 dman.
(altho timing is off since the next game Doughty who is all over the ice)...

Have to sacrifice some of the present to hopefully be better in the future. That's how I look at it.

Team is worse without Edler, but he's not going to be part of the core of Horvat, Boeser, Juolevi, Demko, and others when his contract expires in 2019.

Like Hansen, he's a good player still, but not part of the future. So, best to move on and get pieces to add to the future.
 

MS

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Mar 18, 2002
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Have to sacrifice some of the present to hopefully be better in the future. That's how I look at it.

Team is worse without Edler, but he's not going to be part of the core of Horvat, Boeser, Juolevi, Demko, and others when his contract expires in 2019.

Like Hansen, he's a good player still, but not part of the future. So, best to move on and get pieces to add to the future.

You need veteran defenders on your roster to help integrate younger defenders.

Look at how much Edler has helped Stecher this year. Or how terrible Hutton-Tryamkin look together vs. how good either looks next to Biega.

If you throw Hutton/Tryamkin/Juolevi all onto the roster together with schlubs like Gudbranson and Sbisa, you're going to have a complete disaster where none of those players develop properly.

See what happened to Justin Schultz in Edmonton vs. Pittsburgh as evidence of what happens when you don't have veterans on your roster and can't play guys with those veterans in the right roles.
 

DL44

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Sep 26, 2006
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Have to sacrifice some of the present to hopefully be better in the future. That's how I look at it.

Team is worse without Edler, but he's not going to be part of the core of Horvat, Boeser, Juolevi, Demko, and others when his contract expires in 2019.

Like Hansen, he's a good player still, but not part of the future. So, best to move on and get pieces to add to the future.

I see it much differently than you.

Edler has been playing the best all around hockey of his career and has another 1/2 decade of good hockey left.

I see nothing wrong with keeping him until someone comes along to take his minutes from him. No one on the current squad can. Juolevi might but not for 3-4 yrs.


Still hits too many shin pads... but he still flashes his skill and puck moving ability on the regular, and pretty damn reliable in his own zone. -last night's opening TO aside.
 

jeromemorrow

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May 3, 2016
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The main reason we're 'competitive' is that we have two defenders in Edler and Tanev who have taken 3rd pairing guys in Stecher and Sbisa as partners for most of this season and managed to carry those pairings well. Without those two guys, we're probably in Colorado territory.
Yep that's exactly it. Taking on rookies under their wing, blocking shots, etc.. are so underrated.

To further defend Edler, he leads the league in blocked shots, no?

I do really hope he gets his confidence back and join the rush a bit more. He's awful + clumsy with the puck on the blueline/board play... Just not a very confident player for an extended period of time.

We need to get him a RHS PMD.... or somebody with the exact same mould of LHS Ehrhoff!!!
 

Siludin

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Dec 9, 2010
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I'd take Alzner over Edler anyday, and you are correct that Alzner probably won't get more than $5m this offseason. If we have the opportunity to move Edler and sign Alzner, I would take that right away.
 

Captain Bowie

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Jan 18, 2012
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For all the negatives, we won't find another defenseman who plays his minutes, as well as he does, for that cap hit.

You're mostly right. Other than Tanev, no other player on the Canucks right now could effectively play near 25 minutes a game. But we won't know if any of them ever could if they don't get a chance to develop into that. I think Edler still has some decent value around the league and could bring in a decent return.

I would be very happy if we were able to move him this summer, and bring in a cheaper vet to help take some of his minutes next season, while Hutton, Stetcher and Tryamkin (and possibly even Olli) see their roles increased a little more each season.

If Sbisa is taken in the Expansion Draft, that would leave us with 3 youngsters and 3 vets on D, after bringing someone in through free agency. I think that is the best way us to move towards the future on D next season.
 

Captain Bowie

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Jan 18, 2012
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The past couple years have been the best he's ever been.

People just look at his lower stats (which were propped up by playing on the most dominant PP in the NHL at a time when far more penalties were called) and think he's 'gotten worse'. And remember him smashing Drew Doughty in the playoffs once and act like it happened all the time, when even at the time it was a major outlier play.

It's a little insulting to just assume people who disagree with you are disagreeing because they aren't as informed or intelligent as you. I personally don't think he has played his best hockey of his life over the last few seasons. And yes, his offensive production is a part of that. But he also seems to have more glaring turnovers and bad gaffs than in the past. He certainly doesn't show his past physicality as much as he did. Whatever the reasons; injury, age, gunshy from previous injuries or incidents, who knows.

I've asked this in a few threads if the analytics back up this idea and haven't been satisfied with answers. If they exist I'd be interested to see them.
 

member 202355

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Off topic but I haven't heard one edler interview this season lol

He did an interview with Joey Kenward for Canucks TV, but otherwise I haven't seen him do a single interview before, after, or during a game.
 

Street Hawk

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Feb 18, 2003
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You need veteran defenders on your roster to help integrate younger defenders.

Look at how much Edler has helped Stecher this year. Or how terrible Hutton-Tryamkin look together vs. how good either looks next to Biega.

If you throw Hutton/Tryamkin/Juolevi all onto the roster together with schlubs like Gudbranson and Sbisa, you're going to have a complete disaster where none of those players develop properly.

See what happened to Justin Schultz in Edmonton vs. Pittsburgh as evidence of what happens when you don't have veterans on your roster and can't play guys with those veterans in the right roles.

I keep Tanev around for another year or two as my veteran. I am not a huge fan of either EG or LS. Hoping that LS is taken in the ED. As for EG, I give him next season to see if he is truly deserving of a contract. If not, move him at the TDL and accept your loss of McCann and the 33rd pick and recoup what you can.

The Canucks because of poor drafting, and making deals to add to the current roster, haven't given themselves much room for error. Every young player pretty much has to be a hit.

Demko in net. Juolevi and Brisebois and one other on the back end. Boeser, Gaudette, Goldobin, Dahlen, Lockwood, Virtanen, etc have to pan out.

Canucks are caught in a bad spot. They simply don't have enough future pieces for a contending team.

Looking at the roster, there's not much left to trade to acquire younger assets. Twins are not worth much given that they are a tandem and hard to make that move. Leaves Tanev and Edler and maybe Gudbranson.

Ericsson's deal makes him unlikely to move until year 5 when his salary drops below his cap hit. But, he won't be netting your assets. Sutter, too much money for what he does.

It really only leaves the Defense to trade to get more younger pieces. Not advocating that they deal them all out at once. I'd start with Gudbranson first, then Edler, then Tanev, in an ideal situation. But, if other teams offer you a good return, you have to take it.
 

DL44

Status quo
Sep 26, 2006
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You're mostly right. Other than Tanev, no other player on the Canucks right now could effectively play near 25 minutes a game. But we won't know if any of them ever could if they don't get a chance to develop into that. I think Edler still has some decent value around the league and could bring in a decent return.

I would be very happy if we were able to move him this summer, and bring in a cheaper vet to help take some of his minutes next season, while Hutton, Stetcher and Tryamkin (and possibly even Olli) see their roles increased a little more each season.

If Sbisa is taken in the Expansion Draft, that would leave us with 3 youngsters and 3 vets on D, after bringing someone in through free agency. I think that is the best way us to move towards the future on D next season.

Those young guys get ample opportunity to show what they got... they moved up and down the lineup and got their taste of heavy minutes at different times through the season...

I don't think many people had too much to complain about when it came to dman minutes. Occasional cry about Tryamkin i guess...

Without Edler, you are no longer afforded the opportunity to massage the young players into their roles..

Watching Tanev do a safe play for 25 mins/night would be a tough watch.
 

MS

1%er
Mar 18, 2002
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It's a little insulting to just assume people who disagree with you are disagreeing because they aren't as informed or intelligent as you. I personally don't think he has played his best hockey of his life over the last few seasons. And yes, his offensive production is a part of that. But he also seems to have more glaring turnovers and bad gaffs than in the past. He certainly doesn't show his past physicality as much as he did. Whatever the reasons; injury, age, gunshy from previous injuries or incidents, who knows.

I've asked this in a few threads if the analytics back up this idea and haven't been satisfied with answers. If they exist I'd be interested to see them.

And quotes like this make me wonder how well you remember this team from several years back.

Edler has cleaned up his defensive game so much it's unreal. 5-7 years ago he was basically a mistake-prone 2nd pairing guy who put up huge PP numbers. Vigneault gifted him 60% offensive zone starts as well and avoided playing him in high-leverage defensive situations. His play bottomed out in his horrible 13-14 season when he basically completely checked out.

Since 2014, he's taken MASSIVE strides forward in terms of defensive consistency and his role has been completely different. And he's excelled in it.

And yes, the analytics support this although it's hard to compare the raw numbers from the 2011 Canucks to the 2017 Canucks.

And he was never consistently physical. When he smoked Doughty in 2010, the general reaction was 'WOAH! Why can't he do that more often?' Those hits from him were always few and far between.

His ES production has been remarkably consistent through his career (despite his changed usage) while his PP production has gone from 20-25 points/year to 5-8.
 

Captain Bowie

Registered User
Jan 18, 2012
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Those young guys get ample opportunity to show what they got... they moved up and down the lineup and got their taste of heavy minutes at different times through the season...

I don't think many people had too much to complain about when it came to dman minutes. Occasional cry about Tryamkin i guess...

Without Edler, you are no longer afforded the opportunity to massage the young players into their roles..

Watching Tanev do a safe play for 25 mins/night would be a tough watch.

You could take Edler's 24-minutes a game, and replace him with a 20-minute a night guy and add a minute to each of Tanev, Hutton, Stetcher and Tryamkin and I don't see how that would have a detrimental affect on any of them.
 

MS

1%er
Mar 18, 2002
53,367
83,459
Vancouver, BC
I keep Tanev around for another year or two as my veteran. I am not a huge fan of either EG or LS. Hoping that LS is taken in the ED. As for EG, I give him next season to see if he is truly deserving of a contract. If not, move him at the TDL and accept your loss of McCann and the 33rd pick and recoup what you can.

The Canucks because of poor drafting, and making deals to add to the current roster, haven't given themselves much room for error. Every young player pretty much has to be a hit.

Demko in net. Juolevi and Brisebois and one other on the back end. Boeser, Gaudette, Goldobin, Dahlen, Lockwood, Virtanen, etc have to pan out.

Canucks are caught in a bad spot. They simply don't have enough future pieces for a contending team.

Looking at the roster, there's not much left to trade to acquire younger assets. Twins are not worth much given that they are a tandem and hard to make that move. Leaves Tanev and Edler and maybe Gudbranson.

Ericsson's deal makes him unlikely to move until year 5 when his salary drops below his cap hit. But, he won't be netting your assets. Sutter, too much money for what he does.

It really only leaves the Defense to trade to get more younger pieces. Not advocating that they deal them all out at once. I'd start with Gudbranson first, then Edler, then Tanev, in an ideal situation. But, if other teams offer you a good return, you have to take it.

Tanev and 5 rookies/scrubs is a formula for disaster.

You need 2-3 quality veterans on any NHL blueline if you want your 2-3 young players to be successful.
 

VanJack

Registered User
Jul 11, 2014
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Edler needs to move on, and considering where the Canucks are in their rebuilding cycle, they need to move on from him....two years left on his contract and can still be relatively solid if he's playing on a good team......but he's clearly regressing playing on a team like the Canucks right now, and won't be around by the time they're competitive again anyway.

Edler could fetch them a solid roster forward and maybe a prospect/draft pick, or in an ideal world maybe even both. With 2011 icons like Burrows, Hansen, Kesler and Bieksa already gone, and the Sedins at the end of the next year, it's time for Edler and his agent to see the writing on the wall.
 
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