The deal is done!
Alex Edler will be a Vancouver Canuck for two more years.
With the two-year term, the deal will end a couple of weeks after Seattle's 2021 expansion draft. So—Edler won't need to be protected, because he'll be on his way to becoming an unrestricted free agent, able to sign wherever he pleases.
That does mean it's unlikely that Seattle would choose him, so the Canucks will definitely lose some other player—but that's the price every team has to pay for their share of Seattle's $650 million expansion fee.
A couple of other details, which aren't completely fleshed out:
Edler's agent says the deal carries
a full no-trade, which I expected.
Also, Elliotte Friedman reports that
"Year 2 signing bonus was another critical part of closing". As much as the party line still seems to be "neither side wants another work stoppage," getting most of his money for the 2020-21 season in bonus form guarantees that the financial impact would be minimal for Edler if there is a lockout or player strike.
I'm glad it all worked out—and I'm happy for Jim Benning that the deal seems to have passed muster with even his staunchest critics. Edler gets a decent payday, but it'll be off the books before the presumably significant second contracts for Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes will kick in at the beginning of the 2021-22 season. And the Canucks do right by their top-scoring defenseman in franchise history—and retain his much-needed services for another two years.
And just to give you an idea how crazy this time of year is for all parties involved—I noticed the timestamp for
the announcement on Canucks.com was 3:06 a.m.
Apparently that was real time. It even impressed a guy who does morning radio every day!
No rest for the parties involved on Thursday morning, either. The agent is doing morning radio; Edler will be on a conference call with reporters at 10 a.m. and Benning will be conducting a media availability of his own at noon.
I wonder if the Edler deal will cool Benning's jets on chasing another left-handed defenseman in free agency. It seems like the Canucks have been linked especially enthusiastically to Jake Gardiner but damn, that's a high price:
I know defensive depth is important for those inevitable injuries that arise, but with Quinn Hughes already in the fold and Olli Juolevi hopefully on the way, I would think that Ben Hutton could get moved if the Canucks sign Gardiner. Do you think that would be enough of an upgrade to make a difference on Vancouver's blue line, or do they need to do more?
The other big news of the day is a coronation that we have long expected. On Wednesday in Vegas, Elias Pettersson became just the second player in Vancouver Canucks history to take home the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year.
Watching his acceptance speech, Petey's humility and the high standards he sets for himself shone through. Though I think he expected to win, he still seemed a little overwhelmed to receive such an honour. And whether it was checking to make sure the microphone was working or correcting a slight flaw in his English pronunciation, he approached his speech with the same diligence that we've come to expect from him on the ice.
Petey also touched a lot of hearts by mentioning the late Jason Botchford—and got choked up when he was asked about that moment later in his media availability.
Barely a year has passed since the dominant conversation around Pettersson last summer was about how he was too slight to handle himself in the NHL. Now, he's pretty much universally admired—he took 151 of the possible 171 first-place votes from the Professional Hockey Writers' Association, and didn't finish lower than second on anybody's ballot.
And he wasn't wrong about Botchford voting for him.
Click here to see the full spreadsheet of how all the votes were cast.
I hadn't thought about Botchford's votes having been cast before his passing until Pettersson mentioned it. The saddest part of this story is the young family that has been left behind, but Botchford was so excited by what Pettersson brought to the Canucks this year. It is a shame that he won't be here to document the rest of the journey.
If you're in town, The Athletic is hosting a tribute event for Botchford on Thursday night at the Commodore, with proceeds going to his family. The event includes music and comedy, as well as panel discussions with some of the top names in hockey. My understanding is that there are still some tickets available.
On a lighter note—as far as I know, the only other award vote that went to a Canucks player was a third-place vote to Jacob Markstrom for the Vezina.
The Vezina is voted by the NHL's general managers, so we don't get the same disclosure as we do with the awards that are voted by the writers.
As I type this on Thursday morning, the first round of the draft is now just over 24 hours away. There has been lots of talk of the GMs around the league being very active, and word is that Jim Benning is right in the thick of the fray.
We've heard all along that the Canucks would be aiming to make a splash as hosts this year, with the team's 50th anniversary season just around the corner. There's talk that a new member of the Ring of Honour will be announced; I wonder what other surprises are in store?
I will be out and about at draft events, starting today. Follow my Twitter
@pool88 and my Instagram
@carolschram for updates as we go.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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