Four years ago, Alexander Edler was a project prospect taken in the third round of the 2004 NHL entry draft with scouts unsure of his ability to adapt to the more physical professional game. After the Vancouver Canucks convinced the young Swede to spend a season in the Western Hockey League with the Kelowna Rockets adapting to a more brutish game, Edler was ready to turn pro. Still an unproven commodity and very raw on the offensive end, Edler contributed a great deal to the AHL’s Manitoba Moose, logging substantial moments, even garnering a 22-game call up to the Canucks. He had played well in camp to supplanted Luc Bourdon on Vancouver’s depth chart with his steady play and poise.

Despite maturity beyond his years, which was aided by being paired with countryman Mattias Ohlund, Edler struggled at times to adjust to the NHL’s bigger, more physical forwards. Edler’s play was streaky at best. For games at a time, he would be the mistake-free defenseman the Canucks needed and eat up nearly 20 minutes per game, while Sami Salo and Willie Mitchell battled injuries. Then, as quickly as he arrived on scout’s radars, he would seem unprepared for the game at hand and battling his inexperience; mistake prone and unsure of his abilities.

Late in the year, the Canucks acquired Brent Sopel to shore up the back end and relieve themselves of Edler’s inconsistent play. Sopel didn’t fair much better in his second stint with Vancouver and was allowed to test free agent waters in the summer. As a replacement, the Canucks brought in defensive stalwart Aaron Miller to steady the team’s top six. It seemed as though Edler, with two-way contract in hand, was destined for a season in Manitoba.

All of two games later and Edler was on a plane to Vancouver. Sami Salo’s lingering training camp injury was just the first in what was to be a long line of Canucks in the infirmary. Since the call up, Edler has been the model of consistency, even hearing his name in the discussion for Rookie of the Year; although far-fetched with voters more fixated on materialistic stats. Despite his long shot chance at the Calder, it cannot be ignored what Edler has done as a 21-year-old defenseman thrust into the limelight in hockey mad Vancouver.

With Salo in and out of the medical room, Kevin Bieksa out for a prolonged period of time, Mattias Ohlund suffering from concussion symptoms and Lukas Krajicek battling foot and ankle problems, Alexandre Edler has been forced to be a top four defenseman on a team expected to be a playoff contender. What he has done under the increased workload is notable. Edler is averaging 19 plus minutes per game and has logged over 24 minutes on several occasions. He currently sits eighth in the entire league in plus/minus with a +18 rating, as significant number for a rookie blue liner.

More pleasing to the Canucks is the emergence of his offensive game. Although the numbers may not suggest it, Edler has been chipping in offensively by effectively using a superb first pass out of the zone. The NHL is now dependent on speed and accuracy, namely the defensive corps ability to hit open forwards streaking out of their end and through the neutral zone. Edler has demonstrated great ability at making the all important first pass and the stretch pass which creates a surplus of opportunities for the Canucks forwards.

He also posses a very underrated shot from the point. Edler recently knocked off Sami Salo in the teams skills contest with the clubs hardest shot, registered at 99mph. What has impressed the Canucks even more is that unlike Salo, Edler is unafraid to let loose with it, which has begun to earn him significant time on the power play.

The rookie has made head coach Alain Vigneault so happy that he stated a month back that he does not see a situation in which he would send Edler back to Manitoba, regardless of injury problems. On a defense first team like the Vancouver Canucks, it says a lot when you can make a top six loaded with veterans. It says even more when that player is barely 21 years of age and in his first NHL season and also is leading the club in plus/minus. That is exactly what Alexandre Edler is doing in his first full campaign in the NHL, truly emerging as one of the Canucks' cornerstones of the future.