Vancouver Canucks defenceman Alexander Edler has been an important part of the club’s blue line for a long time — but he is starting to struggle.
A lot has happened since Alexander Edler was selected by the Vancouver Canucks in the third round of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. The 29-year-old Swede is in his 10th season with the club, recording 277 points along the way. In that time, he won six division championships and was a big part of the Canucks team that lost the 2011 Stanley Cup Final against the Boston Bruins. But what is happening with him now?
Edler is still a first-pairing defenceman for the Canucks. He leads the team in average ice time at 24:35, which is almost three full minutes more than his D-partner Christopher Tanev, and in shifts per game at 30.8.
However, it seems safe to say that he wouldn’t be in that position on many other NHL rosters. Edler is declining — and there is nothing we can do about it.
In 43 contests this season, Edler has scored six times and added 12 assists. Collecting points isn’t the problem for him, especially considering that he spends most of his ice time playing with Henrik and Daniel Sedin. Edler’s struggles lie in the defensive zone.
If it wasn’t for his offensive skill, Edler probably wouldn’t play on the first D-pairing for Vancouver either. He is paired with Tanev, who is much more reliable defensively but can keep up with Edler offensively as well.
Related: Chris Tanev – a Defensive Prototype
Looking at advanced statistics, there is one that really sticks out: save percentage. With Edler on the ice in 5-on-5 situations, Canucks goalies only save 91.05 percent of the shots they face. The second-worst player in that category — not too surprisingly — is Tanev, likely due to the fact that he is constantly paired with Edler. Important to note, however, is that Tanev’s save percentage is 1.4 percentage points higher than Edler’s.
Next on that list are Matt Bartkowski and Yannik Weber. With those two on the ice, Canucks goalies save 92.46 and 92.86 percent, respectively, of the team’s shots against. Atop that ranking is Dan Hamhuis, by the way, with a .945 save percentage.
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The same observation can be made in “simple stats” as well. Edler ranks 21st on the Canucks in plus-minus as a minus-6, despite spending a lot of time with Vancouver’s top scorers — Henrik and Daniel Sedin.
One last stat to express just that: with Edler on the ice in 5-on-5 situations, the Canucks give up 2.25 goals against per 60 minutes. Edler’s line mates when Edler is not on the ice with them: 1.63.
In his defence, his line mates only score 1.64 goals per 60 minutes without him but 2.33 with him.
Obviously, Tanev and Edler are the duo that spends a lot of ice time playing against the opponents’ top lines while Bartkowski and Weber are matched up against bottom-six lines most of the time. However, Edler and Tanev are also supposed to be Vancouver’s best defensive pair and they should be able to shut down opposing star players.
Take a look at Edler in the three-year span from 2010-11 to 2012-13 and then from 2013-14 to 2015-16
As you can see, Edler’s ice time is just as high as it used to be, he is still a first-pairing defenceman, but his production is going way down. Surprisingly, though, his possession impact is higher now than it used to be.
Next: Canucks Analytics: Dan Hamhuis is Totally Underrated
Still, all things considered, Edler is steadily declining at only 29 years old. The worst part: there is nothing the Canucks can do about it and no one they can put in his place instead.
What do you think? Is Alex Edler still good enough to play on the Vancouver Canucks’ first pairing? Let us know in the comments!
*Stats via NHL.com and stats.hockeyanalysis.com