Will the Canucks offer defenceman Alex Edler an extension?

Much like his fellow Swedes Henrik and Daniel Sedin, Alex Edler has spent his entire NHL career playing for the Vancouver Canucks. And just like his predecessors, Edler has earned the highest of respect in the city of Vancouver and has become one of the greatest Canucks in franchise history.

The Ostersund native has spent 15 years with the Canucks after they drafted him in the third round of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, and he’s created quite the resume for himself since then. Through 909 regular-season games, Edler has produced 99 goals and 407 points — a franchise record for defencemen.

He’ll be 35 years of age when his contract expires this summer, and it’ll be interesting to see what Canucks’ general manager, Jim Benning, decides to do about it. The 2012 NHL All-Star isn’t quite what he once was, but he still holds incredible value on the ice and in the locker room.

Through the 2020-21 season, Edler has still been the Canucks’ top shutdown defender. The smooth-skating, highly intelligent Quinn Hughes has been everything and more offensively for Vancouver’s blue line, but in terms of quality work in the defensive end, there really isn’t much depth behind Edler.

Nate Schmidt is an offensive-minded defender. Tyler Myers is either really good or really bad with no in-between. And every other full-time defender on the roster is on an expiring deal. So what does Benning do?

Edler is loyal to the soil, and he’s often been openly vocal about his family’s love and desire to stay on Canada’s west coast. Two years ago, he likely could have left Vancouver and signed the final long-term contract of his career, but instead, he agreed to a two-year deal worth a total of $12 million, leaving term on the table in favour of destination. He said this after signing his last contract:

“Unless Vancouver made it clear that a deal wasn’t possible, we knew that we’d be here. I’ve said all along if a deal was there in Vancouver, that my number one priority was to get it done.”

Could Benning be eyeing another short-term deal for the defenceman? Because there are still plenty of reasons why that would make sense for the club. Not only is Edler still a capable top-four defender, but he could play the role of mentor to the up-and-coming blueliners like Olli Juolevi, Jalen Chatfield and Jack Rathbone.

As Edler grows closer to 40 than 30, it’s likely he’s only able to fetch a one or two-year contract, and if Benning and Edler want to come to terms on a new deal, he’ll have to take a considerable pay cut given the fact that Benning’s priority this summer needs to be signing Elias Pettersson, Hughes and Thatcher Demko.

There should be a contract ready and waiting for Edler to sign, but if Benning were smart, he’ll have Edler bend to his terms. It shouldn’t be too difficult for the two sides to come to an agreement, but Benning needs to stand firm on the contract being short-term with a hometown discount.

If I were a betting man, I’d put my money on Edler returning to Vancouver for the 2021-22 NHL season. What do you think Canucks Nation? Is Edler worth a contract extension?