Alexander Edler

Ulf Niklas Alexander Edler (born 21 April 1986) is a Swedish professional ice hockey defenceman who is an unrestricted free agent.

He previously played for the Vancouver Canucks and the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL).

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.

He was drafted out of Sweden's third-tier ice hockey league by the Canucks in the third round, 91st overall, in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, and played junior ice hockey with Modo Hockey of the J20 SuperElit and the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League (WHL).

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 used the pick to select 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.

At the time of his draft, Canucks general manager Dave Nonis described Edler as a "smooth skater and a big guy".

Nonis added, "He needs some time [to develop], but in terms of raw skill, he's got quite a bit of it."

After being selected by the Canucks, Gradin brokered a move for Edler to play with Modo Hockey's junior club of the J20 SuperElit.

Edler had previously tried-out for Modo's youth program, but was cut.

Future Canucks teammates Markus Näslund, Henrik Sedin, and Daniel Sedin had also played in the Modo system before joining the NHL.

In Edler's lone season with Modo, he recorded 8 goals and 23 points over 33 games in 2004–05.

He ranked second in point-scoring among league defencemen to Modo teammate Tommy Enström, who recorded 33.

On 29 June 2005, Edler's major junior rights were obtained by the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League (WHL); he was chosen by Kelowna in the first round, 58th overall, of the Canadian Hockey League Import Draft.

The Canucks encouraged Edler to move from Sweden to play junior in North America.

After reporting to training camp with the Canucks' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Manitoba Moose, in September 2005, he was assigned to junior with the Rockets.

In his lone WHL season, Edler recorded 13 goals and 53 points over 62 games in 2005–06, ranking fifth among WHL defencemen and fourth among all rookies in scoring.

He went on to help Kelowna to the second round of the WHL playoffs, where they were eliminated by the Everett Silvertips.

In 12 post-season games, Edler added eight points.

Edler turned professional in North America with the Canucks' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Manitoba Moose, in 2006–07, seeing some time in the NHL over the course of the season.

Having played in games for the Canucks in 2006–07, he was the longest tenured player on the team's lineup following the retirement of the Sedin twins, Daniel and Henrik, until the Kings acquired him in 2021.

Internationally, Edler has competed for Sweden on four occasions: at the 2006 World Junior Championships, the 2008 and 2013 IIHF World Championships (winning gold) and the 2014 Winter Olympics (winning silver).

Edler is an offensive defenceman noted for his calm on-ice demeanor and strong slapshot.

Edler is regarded as one of the best Canucks defencemen of all-time, holding franchise records for most goals, assists, and points scored by a defenceman for the Canucks.

The following off-season, Edler was signed to an entry-level contract by the Canucks on 24 July 2006.

Reporting to the Canucks' training camp in September 2006, his play had the Canucks slotting him in as the team's seventh defenceman.

However, a hip injury saw him assigned to the Manitoba Moose.

Following an injury to Canucks defenceman Sami Salo, he was called up to the NHL on 3 November 2006, two games into his AHL season.

He made his NHL debut the following day against the Colorado Avalanche.

Eleven days later, he was reassigned to the Moose, only to be recalled on 24 November.

He scored his first NHL goal on 30 November, a slap shot that beat Anaheim Ducks goaltender Jean-Sébastien Giguère in a 2–1 loss.

Edler was reassigned between Manitoba and Vancouver on several more occasions over the course of the 2006–07 season.

He appeared in 22 games total for the Canucks, recording a goal and two assists.

He became a full-time member of the Canucks the following season, and has since been named to one NHL All-Star Game (2012).