All of a sudden, injuries are starting to pile up for the Vancouver Canucks.
That last name, Alex Edler, is a big one. No Canuck has played more this season than the rejuvenated 28-year-old defender, who was forced to leave Saturday’s game in Calgary with an upper-body injury.
“Personally, I think he has been our MVP,” winger Alex Burrows said of Edler, per the Vancouver Sun. “He has logged so many big minutes. There are a lot of guys that have done a really good job, but for me he has been so good. He logs big minutes against the other team’s best players. He’s huge on the penalty kill, he’s huge on our power play. He is so smooth back there and is important for our hockey team.”
Coach Willie Desjardins said this morning that Edler is still being “evaluated.” He wouldn’t estimate how much time Edler could miss, saying only, “I don’t expect him to play today.”
Tonight at home against the red-hot Wild, Vancouver’s defensive pairings are expected to look like this:
Dan Hamhuis - Chris Tanev
Luca Sbisa - Yannick Weber
Ryan Stanton - Adam Clendening
The Canucks announced this morning that they’ve recalled d-man Alex Biega from AHL Utica. They kick off a five-game road trip Thursday in New York versus the Rangers.