Who exactly is available that would be an upgrade on Edler?? Kinda like Topper said, this notion that we can just acquire who we want because we want them is pretty silly. Edler is a top-10/12 d-man in the league. He's not top-5, and top-5 guys aren't available. We have to live with what we have, which shouldn't be hard cuz most teams would LOVE Alex Edler @ $5M/season.Mëds wrote: He should have been traded with someone for an upgrade.
He's 6th in Goals by d-men. The guys above him are Subban, Green, Phaneuf, Markov and Yandle.
Last year only Karlsson, Byfuglien, Campbell, Chara, Pietrangelo and Weber had more points from the back end.
I'm curious who we'd be able to "upgrade" to. Forget Pietrangelo, Weber, Chara, Subban and Karlsson (and add Doughty, Suter and Letang to this list). They aren't moving. I imagine Yandle is in there unless we're giving up too much.
I wouldn't want Green ($6M for worse d-zone play/health issues), Phaneuf ($6.5M, ditto), Markov ($5.75 Age/health), Campbell ($7.1M age/contract), Byfuglien ($5.2M drug addict). I wouldn't trade Edler for any of them.
Next season Edler's contract puts him as the 24th highest paid d-man in the league (cap-wise). He's tied with Paul Martin. I'd rather have Edler.
The Canucks should be looking to add someone that allows Edler to play his game, not trade him for someone better. The guys that are BETTER than Edler, and there aren't many, simply aren't available unless we're willing to gut our franchise for them.