Topic: Alexander Edler

Alexander Edler (born April 21, 1986) is a Swedish professional ice hockey defenceman for the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted out of Sweden's third-tier ice hockey league by the Canucks 91st overall in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft and played junior hockey with Modo of the J20 SuperElit and the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League (WHL). He turned professional in North America with the Canucks' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Manitoba Moose in 2005–06, seeing some time in the NHL over the course of the season. He became a full-time member of the Canucks the following season. Internationally, he has competed for Sweden on two occasions, at the 2006 World Junior Championships and 2008 IIHF World Championships. Edler is an offensive defenceman noted for his calm on-ice demeanor and strong slapshot.

Edler played at the under-17 level with his hometown district team of Jämtland in 2001 and 2002, competing at TV-pucken, a national Swedish tournament. In 2003–04, he joined the professional Jämtlands HF. He played with the club in Sweden's third-tier league, recording three goals and nine points in 24 games, while also appearing in six games for Jämtlands HF's junior team.

Edler was largely unknown during his NHL draft year, unranked by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau the entire season. He was brought to the attention of the Vancouver Canucks by the team's head scout in Sweden, Thomas Gradin, who saw Edler playing with Jämtlands HF. Although Gradin would refer to the team's level of play as little more than beer-league-calibre, he was impressed with Edler and encouraged Canucks management to draft him (Edler's number 23 with the Canucks would later be chosen by team trainers in honour of Gradin). The Canucks traded up in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft to acquire the Dallas Stars' third-round draft pick in exchange for their own third-round pick in the 2005 draft and selected Edler 91st overall. The deal was made with the Stars in lieu of speculation that the Detroit Red Wings had a high interest in Edler and wanted to draft him in the third round as well. Detroit had discovered Edler in Sweden through their European scout Håkan Andersson, who was responsible for such previous Red Wings late-round picks as Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk.