Marc-Edouard Vlasic Unsung Hero For These San Jose Sharks
Marc-Edouard Vlasic has always been known as a defensive stalwart, but his all-around game has never been better.
There are plenty of outgoing personalities on this San Jose Sharks team. From Joe Thornton to Brent Burns, it’s easy to get lost in the shuffle.
However, one player often goes unnoticed, and most of the time that’s a good thing, is defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic who is having a tremendous playoff campaign for team teal.
Vlasic forms the shutdown pairing for San Jose alongside Justin Braun and they’ve been great in limiting the opportunities for the St. Louis Blues.
What has been surprising from the 29-year-old Vlasic is the offensive production he’s provided from the back end. Vlasic has been defined as the ultimate defensive-defensemen whose positioning is always where it needs to be.
But this year, Vlasic has more than chipped in offensively as he’s had career years in both the regular season and the playoffs.
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His offensive improvements were on display in San Jose’s Game 5 victory as he opened the scoring less than four minutes into the contest, and ringed one off the post before Joel Ward batted the rebound into the empty net to tie the game at two.
For the night, Vlasic played a key role with that goal and assist to go along with a plus-two rating in 24 minutes and 49 seconds of ice time.
Much of that time is spent against Blues sniper Vladimir Tarasenko who has been locked down by Vlasic and Braun.
The 40-goal scorer who had 13 points in St. Louis’ first 14 postseason games has zero points in this series to go along with a minus-four rating.
Who would’ve ever thought that Vlasic would have more goals and points than Tarasenko at any point in time? Pretty remarkable job.
To help illustrate that work, here is a mini insight from Jonathan Willis to help frame the kind of job Vlasic has done in shutting down the best offensive playmaker for the Blues.
Vlasic is limiting the looks Tarasenko and his linemates are generating, while also controlling the possession for his own team. That’s a big reason why Vlasic is a plus-five in this series and his partner Braun leads the way with a plus-six rating.
Again, it’s not only the defensive end of the ice where Vlasic is so solid; he’s now capable of chipping in offensively.
During the regular season, he posted a career-high with 39 points (eight goals, 31 assists) and he’s continued that into these playoffs.
In 17 postseason games, Vlasic has produced one goal and nine assists, along with a team-best plus-12 rating in 23-and-a-half minutes of ice time per game. His 10 points are tied with Patrick Marleau for fifth on the team during this playoff run.
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Before this year, his previous high during the postseason was three points, so it’s been quite the jump from a guy whose primary focus is on shutting down the opposition.
It’s truly been a breakout campaign from Vlasic who has seen his stock rise across the NHL ever since being named to the 2014 Canadian Olympic team. He’s already won a gold medal, but now he’s looking to help lead his teammates to somewhere this franchise has never been: the Stanley Cup finals.