Follow me on twitter @IanEsplen to chat hockey, sports and life in general anytime



Alex Edler

Word broke out last night that Vancouver all-star blueliner Alex Edler had agreed to a new six-year/ 30million dollar contract that will keep him in Vancouver. I think the most exciting part of the whole ordeal was how Gillis just kind of floated it out there on twitter and it spread like wild fire. Within 10 minutes it had been re-tweeted by over 400 people. I wonder if Gillis will be tweeting more often now; breaking huge ass deals and signings.

As far as the deal, what's not to like. Edler signed at less considerably less than what most people thought he would get as a UFA this summer. The 5 million dollar cap hit makes him the 22nd highest paid defenceman next year (roughly), behind the likes of: Shea Weber, Ryan Suter, Brian Campbell, Drew Doughty, Zdeno Chara, Jay Bouwmeester, Dan Boyle, Dion Phaneuf, Erik Karlsson, Mike Green, Brent Seabrook, Brent Burns, Andrei Markov, Duncan Keith, James Wisniewski, Tyler Myers, Matt Carle, Keith Yandle, Dennis Wideman and Dustin Byfuglien

Sure Edler is still learning and he isn't as good as SOME of these guys, but I think we can agree he is somewhere in the middle of this list. Another great signing for Gillis. How does he do it?

On a side note, one of my favourite D (and the one I consider to be the best D in this UFA class), Ladislav Smid's value as a UFA may have just gone up. The Oilers better stop playing around with him and get a deal done, because the reality is, someone will give him 5.5-6 on July 1st if he is on the market.


Ducks Prediction

Given that there hasn't been any preseason, it is a little hard to make a prediction. Vancouver is a veteran team, with a few key injuries, but they should have good chemistry because they have played together for so long. The Ducks have relatively good chemistry on their top lines, but a lot of hole s in the bottom of their lineup.

Not a whole lot has changed from last year for either of the teams. For Vancouver to win, their D will need to hold the Ducks "big four" in check. For the Ducks to win, they will need to stop the Vancouver power-play and get a strong performance from Jonas Hiller.

Prediction- 3-2 Vancouver in a shootout


Respect Your Rival

Luca Sbisa
I'm going to start my 2013, respect your rival with a player that is one of my favourite young defenceman in the NHL. I love the rugged, rough and tumble style that Sbisa plays with and he is a player that I feel is ready to become a breakout star this season. He has it all, and in a lot of ways reminds me of Mattias Öhlund; just a real, rock solid, hard working, tough guy, who is hell to line up against. If Getzlaf tests the UFA market in July, Sbisa is the guy I slap the "C" on.

Make sure to watch #5 tonight for the Ducks.


Kesler












That's a wrap.


Ian



Interested in reading more about hockey? Ian Esplen also writes for Hockey Now, covering the WHL, Junior A, and more.




If you are interested in advertising your business to people in the Vancouver area or to hockey fans across North America, you can contact me by clicking the “CONTACT” button at the top of the page.

KINDLE USERS in the United States of America only: Sign up for Canucks Buzz; a one-stop feed for all things Canucks-related on HockeyBuzz. Content is delivered instantly to your Kindle reader whenever a new Canucks-related blog is published. For more information click here