Alex Edler - Part II

[DCantheDDad]

I'm guessing those medicore seasons (defensively) by Edler under Vigneault don't count? It's more than just "the coach". Edler needs a mobile right side defenseman as his partner (eg., a guy like Ehrhoff). We don't have that on this roster right now & haven't since Gillis failed to re-sign Ehrhoff - a guy like Toe Blake isn't going to change that.

This is the #1 problem that needs to be fixed (that Gillis failed to do).

I agree, that when it comes to Edler, he requires a very mobile Off Def to compliment his game.

I can't see Edler having another season as bad as this one, next year. A lot had to go wrong to create this perfect storm of suck. I believe it is a question of just how far he will bounce back next year.

 

[Wetcoaster]

Ben Kuzma ‏@benkuzma
Torts on minus-39 Edler: "He's a guy I didn't get to. I did not do my job well enough to get him back. He's better than he showed."

 

[shortshorts]

How Edler gets more **** than Garrison is beyond me.

Actually, Garrison gets no criticism about his defensive game. He's awful and I don't know why people won't complain about him.

 

[TheWanderer]

How Edler gets more **** than Garrison is beyond me.

Actually, Garrison gets no criticism about his defensive game. He's awful and I don't know why people won't complain about him.

People complain about Garrison all the time... what are you talking about?

They're both awful because they both need the same type of partner: a Campbell/Ehrhoff type. But we have none of those, so they get stuck playing together.

A very badly built defensive group.

 

[Bertie]

But the thing is he struggled down the stretch under av as well, if we go back in time to last year we were discussing if torts could turn edlers game around.

Although i will say someone who would benefit from a john stevens coach is edler. He has la's D playing incredibly well and takes an extremely soft spoken approach to coaching.

My point was really how he has carried back problems with him since the SC Final. Tortorella's public humiliation of him on the bench probably caused him to tune Tortorella out.

I would still have him back because he has terrific potential to be a monster for this team under the right coach.

 

[PM]

I still think that deploying the defence as shown below would have made much more sense. Keeps everyone to their correct side and pairs up each offensive d-man with a defensive d-man. Of course all the injuries this year made this difficult but I don't think we ever saw these pairs even when everyone was healthy.

Hamhuis - Bieksa
Edler - Tanev
Garrison - Weber

Stanton - Corrado

 

[Bertie]

Ben Kuzma ‏@benkuzma
Torts on minus-39 Edler: "He's a guy I didn't get to. I did not do my job well enough to get him back. He's better than he showed."

He got to him alright and millions saw the cheap "Look at me I'm Torts berating this young man on public tv"

Personally I thought both Edler's and Hansen's self control, in face of such public humiliation, was exemplary and something Tortorella could have learned from when he had another temper tantrum later in the year.

He goes on about protecting the players. Is that protecting them? Humiliating them, they are grown men and if Tortorella really wanted to tear a strip off them he should have done it in private.

 

[TheWanderer]

So who thinks this sack of hot garbage is going to get his **** together this season?

 

[VanillaCoke]

I think he's going to be totally fine and a lot of ppl are going to look irrational.

 

[MS]

So who thinks this sack of hot garbage is going to get his **** together this season?

I suspect he'll score 20-ish PP points this year since he'll get loads of time there with Garrison gone and no other options, and that he'll be a little luckier in terms of our ES shooting % when he's on the ice, and because that means he'll score 35-40 points everyone will claim he's 'rebounded'.

But I also suspect he'll still be a 5-on-5 liability who'll be bleeding goals everywhere, and that he'll be one of the biggest reasons our PP is bottom-5 in the league despite his points.

 

[TheWanderer]

I suspect he'll score 20-ish PP points this year since he'll get loads of time there with Garrison gone and no other options, and that he'll be a little luckier in terms of our ES shooting % when he's on the ice, and because that means he'll score 35-40 points everyone will claim he's 'rebounded'.

But I also suspect he'll still be a 5-on-5 liability who'll be bleeding goals everywhere, and that he'll be one of the biggest reasons our PP is bottom-5 in the league despite his points.

That's a pretty solid prediction. Personally, I'm not so confident he'll have a D partner who can stabilize the pairing any better than the last three years because we haven't gotten another RHD still...

 

[VanillaCoke]

That's a pretty solid prediction. Personally, I'm not so confident he'll have a D partner who can stabilize the pairing any better than the last three years because we haven't gotten another RHD still...

But new system though. And since the vote of confidence I expect the coaches to put edler in a position to succeed.

 

[TheWanderer]

But new system though. And since the vote of confidence I expect the coaches to put edler in a position to succeed.

Edler has been put in a position to succeed every season he's been on this team. He has been a failure every time he's been the player to "lead" the pairing. He needs to play with someone who is driving the play for him. Edler needs the play to come to him. Having a coach tell him to drive the play is what has been ****ing the guy up.

I hope Tanev can develop into that catalyst... he can skate and pass and his shot is at least accurate... I dunno...

 

[Puckerz]

Can't get any worser right?

Extremely fragile confidence has always been his bugaboo, and the coaching changes alone should help Edler tremendously, imo.

Play him with Tanev (who makes everyone look better) and coach him with the right touch (excited about Lidster mentoring him) and an awful lot of people are gonna be eating their words.

 

[Siludin]

Can't get any worser right?

Extremely fragile confidence has always been his bugaboo, and the coaching changes alone should help Edler tremendously, imo.

Play him with Tanev (who makes everyone look better) and coach him with the right touch (excited about Lidster mentoring him) and an awful lot of people are gonna be eating their words.

I agree that Tanev-Edler and then Bieksa-Hamhuis should be the go-to top-4 defensive pairings next year. Sbisa, Corrado, Stanton, and Weber can all fend for minutes until one of them manages to prove themselves. From what I gather Desjardins depends a lot on a strong transition game so skating and smart puck play could play more into who gets ice-time than power-play performance, and I feel most of the Canucks defense are strong skaters. The importance of Garrison's shot was way overplayed, as the best part of the Canucks PP performance in their recent President's Trophy seasons came more from garbage goals and set-plays than having a huge release.

 

[skywarp75]

of course the decline in his play could strictly be Injury + Torts coaching, but we could also compare his partners

when paired with Ehrhoff, Edler looked great. Ehrhoffs primary asset being speed and puck moving (and a great shot too)

when paired with Garrison, his play crumbled. Garrison's weakest points being speed and puck moving.

Garrison in my opinion was a black hole of puck moving. Ive never seen a dman so bad at getting the puck up ice in a position his forwards can establish offensive possession. The Garrison defenders dont seem to notice this, they just say 'he's good defensively'

and yes, Tanev is light years better at moving the puck up ice, as is Stanton even.

 

[kanucks25]

Hamhuis - Tanev is a good shutdown pair but Hamhuis - Bieksa was good, too, so it might be worth using Edler - Tanev like others have suggested. If Tanev can't help Edler, I don't know who can.

Gut feeling, he has a good season.

 

[Jimson Hogarth*]

Can't remember a more coddled member of this franchise.

 

[Drop the Sopel]

But I also suspect he'll still be a 5-on-5 liability who'll be bleeding goals everywhere, and that he'll be one of the biggest reasons our PP is bottom-5 in the league despite his points.

Edler didn't even really bleed goals against last year, or the year before. His numbers have been right in line with Bieksa's. Not good numbers by any stretch, but not exactly standing out compared to some others on the team either in Bieksa, Higgins, Kesler etc...

Kesler is the guy that has bled goals against over the last 2 seasons - though he does take on very tough minutes.

Edler's 'CorsiRelQoc' also hasn't been that bad at all over the last couple years.

Wouldn't be surprised to see Edler have a major bounce back season in terms of plus/minus. Especially if he gets to lineup with a good defensive defenseman like Tanev.

 

[Bleach Clean]

Edler's 'CorsiRelQoc' also hasn't been that bad at all over the last couple years.

Wouldn't be surprised to see Edler have a major bounce back season in terms of plus/minus. Especially if he gets to lineup with a good defensive defenseman like Tanev.

Oddly enough, Edler-Tanev had the worst GA20 last year amongst pairings. They seemed to have had a high collective CF% because they weren't able to prevent goals against for enough time so as to accumulate shots against - To even out their CF%. Quite an interesting case actually.

Edit: I think they should run with Edler-Weber. Cushy minutes with the Sedins. Put him in a position to get points. Weber's shot should compliment him well.

 

[Bourne Endeavor]

How Edler gets more **** than Garrison is beyond me.

Actually, Garrison gets no criticism about his defensive game. He's awful and I don't know why people won't complain about him.

Three and a half months later and now it's hard to find someone say a good thing about Garrison.

 

[CloutierForVezina]

Edler will be fine next year. Just like Ovechkin. Just like Yakupov.

Players who experience a huge one year dip in their PDO don't just suddenly become trash for the rest of their careers.

 

[WinterEmpire]

Edler will be fine next year. Just like Ovechkin. Just like Yakupov.

Players who experience a huge one year dip in their PDO don't just suddenly become trash for the rest of their careers.

How do you explain the last 2 and half year then?

 

[CloutierForVezina]

How do you explain the last 2 and half year then?

Last year was his first, and only, truly awful season.

The year before he was inconsistent, yes, but was still relatively effective. He was worse than normal, but not significantly so. I think the real disappointment that year was him in the playoffs, but nobody (aside Henrik) looked good in those playoffs. But that's what happens when you judge a team on a 5-game sample size, sometimes they look all world and sometimes they crap the bed.

 

[TheWanderer]

I kind of think Weber would be good with Edler because of his pick moving abilities.