| Alexander Edler | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 21, 1986 Östersund, SWE |
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Weight | 215 lb (98 kg; 15 st 5 lb) |
| Position | Defence |
| Shoots | Left |
| NHL team Former teams |
Vancouver Canucks Jämtlands HF (Swe-3) |
| National team | Sweden |
| NHL Draft | 91st overall, 2004 Vancouver Canucks |
| Playing career | 2003–present |
Alexander Edler (born April 21, 1986) is a Swedish professional ice hockey defenceman for the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted out of Sweden's third-tier ice hockey league by the Canucks 91st overall in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft and played junior hockey with Modo of the J20 SuperElit and the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League (WHL). He turned professional in North America with the Canucks' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Manitoba Moose in 2005–06, seeing some time in the NHL over the course of the season. He became a full-time member of the Canucks the following season. Internationally, he has competed for Sweden on two occasions, at the 2006 World Junior Championships and 2008 IIHF World Championships. Edler is an offensive defenceman noted for his calm on-ice demeanor and strong slapshot.
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Edler played at the under-17 level with his hometown district team of Jämtland in 2001 and 2002, competing at TV-pucken, a national Swedish tournament.[1] In 2003–04, he joined the professional Jämtlands HF. He played with the club in Sweden's third-tier league, recording three goals and nine points in 24 games, while also appearing in six games for Jämtlands HF's junior team.
Edler was largely unknown during his NHL draft year, unranked by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau the entire season.[2] He was brought to the attention of the Vancouver Canucks by the team's head scout in Sweden, Thomas Gradin, who saw Edler playing with Jämtlands HF.[2] Although Gradin would refer to the team's level of play as little more than beer-league-calibre,[2] he was impressed with Edler and encouraged Canucks management to draft him (Edler's number 23 with the Canucks would later be chosen by team trainers in honour of Gradin).[3] The Canucks traded up in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft to acquire the Dallas Stars' third-round draft pick in exchange for their own third-round pick in the 2005 draft and selected Edler 91st overall. The deal was made with the Stars in lieu of speculation that the Detroit Red Wings had a high interest in Edler and wanted to draft him in the third round as well.[2][4] Detroit had discovered Edler in Sweden through their European scout Håkan Andersson, who was responsible for such previous Red Wings late-round picks as Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk.[2][5]
After being selected by the Canucks, Gradin brokered a move for Edler to play with Modo Hockey's junior club of the J20 SuperElit.[2] Future Canucks teammates Markus Näslund, Henrik Sedin and Daniel Sedin had also played in the Modo system before joining the NHL.[2] In Edler's lone season with Modo, he recorded eight goals and 23 points over 33 games in 2004–05. He ranked second in point-scoring among league defencemen to Modo teammate Tommy Enström, who recorded 33.[6]
On June 29, 2005, Edler's major junior rights were obtained by the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL. He was chosen by Kelowna in the first round, 58th overall, of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) Import Draft.[7] The Canucks encouraged Edler to move from Sweden to play junior in North America.[8] After reporting to training camp with the Canucks' AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moose, in September 2005,[9] he was assigned to junior with the Rockets. In his lone WHL season, Edler collected 13 goals and 53 points over 62 games in 2005–06, ranking fifth among WHL defencemen and fourth among rookies in scoring.[10][11] He went on to help Kelowna to the second round of the WHL playoffs, where they were eliminated by the Everett Silvertips.[12] In 12 post-season games, Edler added eight points.
The following off-season, Edler was signed to an entry-level contract by the Canucks on July 24, 2006.[13] Reporting to the Canucks' training camp in September 2006, his play had the Canucks slotting him in as the team's seventh defenceman.[14] However, a hip injury saw him assigned to the Manitoba Moose.[14] Following an injury to Canucks defenceman Sami Salo, he was called up to the NHL on November 3, 2006, two games into his AHL season.[14][15] He made his NHL debut the following day against the Colorado Avalanche.[2] Eleven days later, he was re-assigned to the Moose, only to be recalled on November 24.[13] He scored his first NHL goal on November 30, a slap shot that beat Anaheim Ducks goaltender Jean-Sébastien Giguère in a 2–1 loss.[16] Edler was re-assigned between Manitoba and Vancouver on several more occasions over the course of the 2006–07 season.[13] He appeared in 22 games total for the Canucks, recording a goal and two assists. With the Moose, he scored five goals and 26 points over 49 games and was named Manitoba's Rookie of the Year.[17]
Playing in his rookie season with the Canucks the following season,[notes 1] Edler was chosen to compete in the 2008 NHL YoungStars Game. Representing the Western Conference, his team was defeated by the Eastern Conference by a 7–6 score.[19] Playing amidst numerous injuries on the Canucks' blueline, Edler appeared in the most games among team defencemen with 75. With all the injuries to his teammates, he was given additional time on the power play and penalty kill.[17] His eight goals ranked second among rookie defencemen in the NHL, while his 20 points was fifth overall.[20]
At the start of the 2008–09 season, he was re-signed to a four-year, $13 million contract extension on October 9, 2008.[21] The contract, a raise from his 2008–09 salary of $550,000, took into effect the following campaign.[21] The following month, he missed two games sidelined with the flu.[13] Later in the season, he recorded a personal best four-point game (one goal, three assists) in a game against the Chicago Blackhawks on February 7, 2009.[22] He finished with 37 points, including a career-high 10 goals. In the 2009 playoffs, Edler led all team defencemen with seven points in 10 games as the Canucks were eliminated in the second round by the Chicago Blackhawks. In his first few seasons in the NHL, Edler was often paired with veteran blueliner and countryman Mattias Öhlund,(Öhlund left the Canucks to free agency in the 2009 off-season and signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning).[23]
The following campaign, he improved to career-highs of 37 assists, first among team defencemen, and 42 points, second to Christian Ehrhoff. He missed six games near the mid-point of the campaign due to a left arm injury, sustained in December 2009.[13] In the post-season, he added six points in 12 games as the Canucks lost again in the second round to the Blackhawks. Edler was injured in the sixth and deciding game of the series after opposing forward Dustin Byfuglien stepped on his right ankle after hitting him along the boards.[24] Requiring a walking cast for five weeks, he rehabilitated his ankle during the off-season.[24]
Recovering in time for the 2010–11 season, Edler continued to improve and was on pace to record new career-highs in goals, assists and points when he suffered a back injury in January 2011. Canucks general manager Mike Gillis told reporters that Edler had been experiencing tightness in his back at several times in the season, but an open-ice hit against Dallas Stars forward Jamie Benn during a game on January 24 might have contributed to his back problems.[25] He underwent microdisectomy sugery to relieve pressure on a herniated disk and was sidelined for two-and-a-half months,[26] returning for the second-last game of the regular season.[27] Finishing the season with 8 goals and 33 points over 51 games, he ranked second among team defencemen in scoring, behind Ehrhoff. His 24 minutes and 17 seconds of average ice time per game also led the Canucks.[28] As the Canucks won the Presidents' Trophy for the first time in franchise history, the team entered the 2011 playoffs with the first seed in the West. Eliminating the Chicago Blackhawks, Nashville Predators and San Jose Sharks, the Canucks advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in 17 years. Facing the Boston Bruins, the team lost the series in seven games. Following their defeat, it was revealed that several Canucks players had been playing with injuries, including Edler, who played Game 7 with two broken fingers.[29] He ranked second among Canucks defencemen and third in the league overall with 11 points (2 goals and 9 assists) in 25 games.[30]
Edler made his first appearance for Sweden at the under-20 level, competing in the 2006 World Junior Championships in British Columbia, Canada. He notched his lone point of the tournament, an assist, in a 10–2 round-robin win against Latvia.[31] Sweden went on to finish in fifth place,[32] having lost their quarterfinal game to Finland.[33] Two years later, Edler debuted with Sweden's men's team at the 2008 IIHF World Championships in Halifax and Québec City, Canada. He scored his first international goal on the powerplay against French goaltender Fabrice Lhenry in a 9–0 round-robin win.[34] Sweden went on to the bronze medal game, where they were defeated by Canada 5–4.[35] Edler finished with a goal and two assists in eight games. His 19:02 minutes of average ice time per game ranked third among team defencemen.[36]
Edler plays in the style of an offensive defenceman. One of his strongest offensive assets is his slapshot. At the Canucks' 2008 SuperSkills event, he beat the team's reigning hardest shooter, Sami Salo, with a 99.3 mile-per-hour shot and has gone on to win the competition in 2009 and 2010, as well.[37][38] He is also known for his poise and confidence with the puck,[39] allowing him to make strong first passes out of the defensive zone to forwards.[40] Many within the Canucks organization, such as assistant coach Rick Bowness, have asserted this as a reflection of his calm off-ice demeanor.[39]
Despite Edler's imposing physical characteristics,[39] he was not known to be an aggressive defender early in his NHL career. However, he has gradually shown a capability for physicality and to hit opposing players hard.[41][25] Looking back on his transition to North American hockey with the Kelowna Rockets, Edler noted the most difficult adjustment was the physical aspect of the game, which was more pronounced than in Sweden.[8] During the Canucks' 2011 playoff run, teammate Kevin Bieksa compared him to Edler's former defensive partner, Mattias Ohlund, commenting "He [Edler] was like Bambi when he first came into the league but now he realized how big and strong he is. When he hits guys, he hurts them."[42]
Edler was born in Östersund, Sweden. He has a brother, Jens, and a sister, Katarina.[43]
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2001–02 | Jämtland | TVp[1] | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2002–03 | Jämtland | TVp[1] | 8 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003–04 | Jämtlands HF | SWE Jr. | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003–04 | Jämtlands HF | SWE-3 | 24 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2004–05 | Modo Hockey | J20 | 33 | 8 | 15 | 23 | 40 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 2005–06 | Kelowna Rockets | WHL | 62 | 13 | 40 | 53 | 44 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 12 | ||
| 2006–07 | Manitoba Moose | AHL | 47 | 5 | 21 | 26 | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2006–07 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 22 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2007–08 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 75 | 8 | 12 | 20 | 42 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 80 | 10 | 27 | 37 | 54 | 10 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 6 | ||
| 2009–10 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 76 | 5 | 37 | 42 | 40 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 10 | ||
| 2010–11 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 51 | 8 | 25 | 33 | 24 | 25 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 8 | ||
| NHL totals | 304 | 32 | 103 | 135 | 166 | 50 | 5 | 20 | 25 | 26 | ||||
| Year | Team | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Sweden | WJC | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |
| 2008 | Sweden | WC | 8 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 12 | |
| Junior int'l totals | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |||
| Senior int'l totals | 8 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 12 | |||
| Award | Year |
|---|---|
| Manitoba Moose Rookie of the Year | 2007 |
| NHL YoungStars Game | 2008 |