I mostly unplugged from the Canucks during the Olympics, as I allowed myself the mental vacation of cheering for athletes that had a chance to win, or even if they didn’t, weren’t vilified for being second or third best. They were lauded, even! Held up as heroes! It was pretty great.
Then I checked back in to the world of the Canucks and discovered that last week was “should the Canucks trade Edler?” week. This was all sparked, as far as I can tell, by a TSN radio host in Toronto basically saying that if the Canucks wanted to trade Edler this off-season, they would have already done so.
Look, here’s what every “Should they trade this guy?” article boils down to. Is he bad at hockey? Then the team should trade him for whatever they can get. Is he good at hockey? Then the team shouldn’t trade him, unless the offer is good enough or he's a pending UFA who won't re-sign, in which case they should trade him. That’s it.
In any case, it’s been a while since I’ve had to defend Alex Edler, who remains a very good defenceman, even if he’s now second best on the team behind Chris Tanev. I could get into a massive post defending him (for instance, as the 47th highest paid defenceman in the league, he really isn’t overpaid), but instead let’s just watch every goal he scored last season.
1 | October 13 vs Los Angeles Kings
Here’s the dilemma for Alex Edler playing so much with the Sedins. They like to cycle the puck along the right-side boards, meaning that a right-hand shot would be ideal at the point to take one-timers. Edler is a left-hand shot. It just doesn’t work.
Unless you get creative like Henrik Sedin and bank the puck off the far boards, putting it perfectly in Edler’s wheelhouse for a gorgeous one-timer. Sure, you could argue that this was just a missed pass to Daniel, but have you ever seen Henrik make a bad pass? I rest my case.
2 | October 29 vs Dallas Stars
Edler is quite a fan of the slap-pass, likely because his slap shots get blocked so frequently. Penalty killers know he can rip the puck, so they make sure to get in his shooting lanes, forcing a lot of wrist shots from the point as he tries to get the puck through traffic.
This time, however, Edler gets the space to take a slap shot, perhaps because the penalty kill has to respect Yannick Weber’s shot as well, and makes the most of it. It still hits a shot blocker in front, but just knicks the shinpad and goes inside the far post.
3 | November 8 vs New Jersey Devils
Okay, look: Keith Kinkaid is not a very good goaltender. But that's not Edler's fault. Even though Edler’s shot tips off Jordin Tootoo’s stick and bounced, it still really should not have beaten Kinkaid on the short side. But it did! Yay!
4 | November 12 vs Ottawa Senators
Edler is surprisingly sneaky on this last-minute goal. With the Senators lined up across the blue line to prevent an easy carry-in by the Canucks’ forwards, they weren’t expecting a defenceman to jump up into the play. Edler takes Henrik’s pass and finds himself alone at the faceoff circle. It’s not a great angle for a left-handed shot, but Edler somehow finds a seam on the short side with his wrist shot.
5 | December 3 vs Dallas Stars
Jannik Hansen sets up a great screen on this goal and Edler’s wrist shot from the point is a smart one. With Kari Lehtonen peering around Hansen’s right side, Edler sends the shot to the opposite side. Like a third-party candidate in a first-past-the-post system, Lehtonen had no chance, and the puck went past the post and into the net.
6 | December 9 vs New York Rangers
Holy crap, this shot. Sure, it’s on a 5-on-3, so Edler has all the time in the world to place this wrist shot, but does he ever place it perfectly. With Burrows causing a ruckus in front of the net, the goaltender doesn’t even react until that glorious *DING* off the crossbar reverberates around the rink.
But let’s face it, the real highlight comes at the end when Alain Vigneault applauds the refs saying, “Great f***ing job!” as clear as day to even the most amateur of lip readers. Or maybe he was also really impressed by Edler’s shot.
