11 jours avant la soirée d’ouverture : Alex Edler (12e score de tous les temps)
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11 jours avant la soirée d’ouverture : Alex Edler (12e score de tous les temps)
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12. Alexander Edler — 925GP | 99G | 310A | 409P | 2007-2021
Ulf Niklas Alexander Edler was born in Östersund, Sweden on April 21, 1986. Edler grew up playing junior hockey in Sweden with Jämtland. After two seasons with the junior team, Edler stepped up to the Jämtland professional team which was in Sweden’s third-tier league. In 24 games with the club, Edler scored 3 goals and 9 points in 24 games.
Edler was eligible to be drafted in the 2004 NHL Draft. However, he was not well known. Edler was not ranked by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau. Prominent Swedish scout, Thomas Gradin, had watched Edler play and vouched for him to be selected by the Canucks. Vancouver was not the only team that had eyes on Edler. The team was worried Detroit was looking to select Edler after being scouted by Håkan Andersson—the scout responsible for finding Henrik Zetterberg & Pavel Datsyuk. In the third round, Vancouver made their move and jumped the Red Wings by six picks acquiring the 91st overall pick from the Dallas Stars to select Alex Edler.
Following the draft, Gradin brokered a move for Edler to join Modo’s U20 team in the J20. Edler finished 2nd amongst defenseman in scoring with 8 goals and 23 points in 33 games. For the 2005-06 season, Vancouver persuaded Edler to move to North America and he joined the Kelowna Rockets in the WHL after being selected 58th overall in the CHL import draft. Edler did well with the Rockets playing in 62 games while recording 13 goals and 53 points. The Rockets made it to the 2nd round of the WHL Playoffs before being eliminated by the Everett Silvertips.
On July 24, 2006, Edler was signed to an entry-level contract by the Canucks. He was pencilled in to make the team as the seventh defenseman, but suffered a hip injury forcing his demotion to Manitoba in the AHL. Edler still earned NHL opportunities throughout the year but spent ~2/3s of the season in the AHL. Edler scored his first NHL goal on Jean-Sébastien Giguère in a 2-1 loss to the Ducks. By the end of the season, Edler had 3 points in 22 NHL games and 26 points through 47 AHL games. He was also named Manitoba’s Rookie of the Year.
With only 22 NHL games in 2007, his official rookie season was the 2007-08 season. Edler earned plenty of opportunities and led team defenseman in games played due to a flurry of defensive injuries. Edler was primarily paired with fellow countryman and mentor Mattias Öhlund throughout the early years of his career. Edler had 8 goals and 20 points through 75 games while averaging 21 minutes per game.
In the 2008-09 season, Edler set a career-high with 10 goals and 37 points while playing in 80 games. He finished second on the team in defensive scoring behind Kevin Bieksa. Bieksa had some praise through a funny quip about Edler early in his career. Bieksa made comparisons to Öhlund but also referred to Edler as playing “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.”
Edler continued to be a key contributor on the backend for Vancouver, but he was struggling to stay healthy. After being injured in the final playoff game of the 2010 season, Edler was injured once again in the 2011 season. Edler required surgery to relieve pressure in a herniated disk which resulted in a 2.5 month absence. Edler was on pace for a career season before his injury, but finished with 8 goals and 33 points in just 51 games. Edler played in all 25 games of the 2011 playoff run. Following Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, it was revealed that Edler played the final game with two broken fingers.
The best season of Edler’s career was in 2011-12. He set a new career high in goals with 11 and finished with 49 points while averaging nearly 24 minutes per game. He qualified for the NHL All-Star game and also received a handful of 5th place votes for the Norris Trophy as the league’s best defenseman.
Midway through the 2012-13 season, Edler signed a six-year extension with the club worth $30-Million. Edler wasn’t having a great season following the extension and was subject to trade rumors in the off-season. There was chatter that GM Mike Gillis was looking to move Edler to Detroit before his No-Trade-Clause took effect on July 1. Gillis was unable to finalize a trade and Edler remained a Vancouver Canuck.
Edler played the entirety of his six-year contract with Vancouver. Edler dealt with injuries each season and only played in 70+ games twice in that span. Nonetheless, he continued to be one of Vancouver’s best defenders and he consistently logged 23+ minutes per game.
On March 2, 2018, Edler surpassed his mentor Mattias Öhlund and became the franchise leader in points by a defenseman. The following season, Edler surpassed Öhlund again taking the top spot for games played by a defenseman in franchise history. Edler was almost traded at the 2019 trade deadline, but refused to waive his No-Trade-Clause and remained with the team to finish the season.
After signing a two-year extension on June 20, 2019 Edler was able to complete the defensive trifecta in the 2020 season by surpassing Dennis Kearns for assists by a Canucks defenseman. Edler also became the final player to remain a Canuck from the 2011 playoff run as Christopher Tanev moved to Calgary as a free agent.
Edler’s time with Vancouver came to an end following the 2020-21 season. He was at 99 career goals when his contract expired and he was snakebitten all season long and failed to score a goal through 52 games.
Thankfully for Edler, his career carried on in Los Angeles and he was able to achieve his 100th career NHL goal and 1000th career game with the Kings.
Dude went through all that to be franchise defensive leader in many categories just to have some kid walk in and destroy them in a few seasons
Still love Eddie the Eagle
Pants stripe and the 50th patch made the jersey look so much cooler
I’m confused about why the « ___ days to opening night » and « ___th all-time scoring » hasn’t been matching up since kesler
The blue logo on white looks so nice. I wonder how blue logo on blue would look like
Gradin doing yeoman’s work. How many great Swedish players has he unearthed for us?
Can’t wait to see him skate out in a canucks jersey one last time