The Vancouver Canucks today re-signed young defenseman Alexander Edler to a four-year contract extension.

Edler, 22, will see a significant raise over his current salary of $550K starting next season, as his new deal will be worth $3.25 million per season against the Canucks cap.

That's again going to raise eyebrows and undoubtedly some complaints for paying a young player (in this case, one with currently less than 100 NHL games on his resume) that much of a raise, but it reflects the continuing trend under this collective bargaining agreement whereby general managers are willing to invest more on potential rather than on previous experience.

And Edler certainly does come with promise, notching 20 points in 76 games with a plus-minus of +6 for the Canucks last season.

With veteran puckmoving blueliner Mattias Ohlund eligible for unrestricted free agency next summer this move could also be seen as insurance in case Ohlund tests next year's UFA market, or perhaps GM Mike Gillis could be tipping his hand as to Ohlund's future with the club .

Not much really going on now in the hockey world. The NHL UFA spending frenzy has wound down, Mats Sundin is still being coy over his future plans, the war of words between the NHL and KHL over player transfers cooled down a bit this past week, and there’s been no surprise offer sheets to the few decent unsigned restricted free agents this summer.

So here’s my quick take on what passed for NHL news this past week:

Translation: whenever an NHL team or general manager announces a “youth movement” next season  - hello there, Mike Gillis of the Vancouver Canucks – it really means the team is rebuilding.

See, the “R” word doesn’t sell well to fans, particularly those you’re counting on to purchase or renew season tickets, as that suggests the club might not make the playoffs next season.

Make no mistake, the Canucks are rebuilding but it remains to be seen how that affects their playoffs chances.

-Speaking of the Canucks, they’re supposedly interested in Senators forward Antoine Vermette, who appears headed to arbitration if the Sens cannot re-sign him to a new contract.

The Sens hope to re-sign Vermette and defenseman Andrej Meszaros but they also need an offensive blueliner to anchor their powerplay as well as another scoring second line forward, and new contracts for Vermette and Meszaros will eat up a considerable chunk of their valuable cap space.

Hence the trade rumors swirling about those two, and the reason the Canucks are linked to Vermette is their depth in blueliners, although half of them (Willie Mitchell, Sami Salo, Mattias Ohlund) have “no-trade” clauses and aren’t willing to waive them.

The Canucks need second-line scoring depth, so these two teams appear a natural fit, at least in the eyes of those dreaming up trade rumors.

Maybe there’s something to it, but I’ll say this right now, I doubt very much the Canucks would’ve “laughed off” an offer of Vermette for Kevin Bieksa straight up.

-Some folks were surprised when NHLPA honcho Paul Kelly denounced the International Ice Hockey Federation  (IIHF) for suspending six players (including former Predator Alexander Radulov and Blue Jackets rookie Nikita Filatov) pending investigation into their contract situations with their new teams.

Kelly’s condemnation shouldn’t be surprising. Russia’s KHL gives NHLPA members another option to earn big dollars if they’re unable to find suitable deals with NHL clubs.

Most importantly, the KHL provides players and their agents with additional leverage in squeezing NHL teams for more money.

And don’t cry about how that would squeeze lesser players out of NHL contracts, as they can find employment – and more money – in the KHL, as that appears to be this summer’s trend for the NHL’s unemployed free agent lesser lights.

By the way, players unable to land NHL contracts have for years been signing with European teams, it's just that this year the KHL is offering the best contracts which is why so many former NHL'ers are signing with KHL clubs.

-While on the topic of the KHL and Russian hockey, just to clarify: I don’t hate Russia, Russian hockey or Russian hockey players.

I’ve been a fan of Russian hockey since the 1972 Summit Series. I may be Canadian and of course I support my country’s players but that doesn’t mean I can’t admire the talent from other countries.

Heck, I’ve been one of the few hockey columnists/bloggers over the years calling on the Hockey Hall of Fame to induct more European stars who made a significant impact upon the game outside of the NHL.

And I believe the Russians in particular, and the European leagues in general, have a legitimate beef with the NHL regarding the pittance in compensation they receive for players signed away by NHL teams.

That doesn’t mean I can’t be critical of Russian hockey, particularly the decline in player development over the last ten years, or what I consider will be an exercise in futility on the part of the KHL to tempt away big name NHL talent with big money contracts.

Ultimately the KHL isn’t doing this to be a competitor with the NHL. They’re doing it to try to force the NHL into accepting a more fair system of compensating Russian teams for players signed away from them by NHL teams.

It’s all about the compensation, folks, don’t lose sight of that fact.

- For the last two years there were constant reports of the Boston Bruins trading forward Glen Murray, how the San Jose Sharks either wanted to reunite him with Joe Thornton (or Thornton was pulling strings to get Murray to San Jose), that the LA Kings wanted “to bring him home” and of how hot and bothered Kevin Lowe of the Edmonton Oilers was to land him.

This week Murray, whose career has sadly been in a slow decline since his career year in 2002-03, went unclaimed on waivers and will be bought out by the Bruins, highlighting how out to lunch those rumors were.

Tough way for Murray’s career with the Bruins to end, though, but they really had no choice. Re-signing Dennis Wideman put them over the cap and Murray’s $4.15 million salary for next season was eating up too much valuable cap space.

Maybe Murray will get signed by another club desperate for affordable second line scoring (Ottawa, perhaps?).