Canucks Season Preview: Alex Edler

Next stop in our Canucks season preview series, defenseman Alex Edler.

What we remember:

Only 25 years old and having just finished his fourth full year in the NHL, Alex Edler just keeps getting better. In 2010/2011, he missed almost half the season due to a back injury, but still put up 8 goals and 33 points – a pace that would’ve seen him score more than 10 goals and 50 points had he played in all 82 games.

Edler’s play before and after his injury drew praise from his teammates. After all, he’s big and physical and skilled and poised – a fine skill set especially for a young defenseman. Some even compared him to another great Swedish defenseman, Nicklas Lidstrom. That’s some high praise.

What we expect:

Edler will be expected to fill some of the offensive void left by the departure of Christian Ehrhoff and his 50 points. He’ll also undoubtedly get more powerplay time and hope to improve on what was a career-high 5 powerplay goals last year.

Reality check:

It remains to be seen whether or not Edler can quarterback the powerplay. While he logged regular powerplay time, he rarely quarterbacked the powerplay. This was one of the traits that Ehrhoff brought to the table and a skill set the Canucks are looking for Edler to replace.

He said it:

“I don’t really feel much right now. This is absolutely the worst feeling of my career. It just feels terrible. I don’t really have anything good to say about it.”

– Alex Edler immediately after losing game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals