The most senior defenseman on the San Jose Sharks this season, Marc-Edouard Vlasic barely makes the cut in terms of our player reviews. Injuries kept him out of the lineup for a majority of the season and it was only much later in the season, January, when he was considered healthy enough to play for the team.
Vlasic’s 2024-25 production
In total, Vlasic played 27 games for the Sharks last season.
| Games Played | Goals | Assists | Points | +/- | Shooting % | TOI/Game |
| 27 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -10 | 5.0% | 14:38 |
It was a career low in games played, goals, assists, points and total ice time per game. His 14:38 was worse than what he achieved in 2021-22, when he played 15:13 per game and far lower than his rookie season, when he played 22:12 per game.
Vlasic was just fine
We won’t spend too much time on evaluating Vlasic’s play this season. He is 38 years old. And as far as we know, no one has figured out how to travel back in time just yet. As hockey pundits like to say, Father Time remains unbeaten, and Vlasic is losing this battle.
Still, as a seventh defenseman, the team could do worse.
Looking at where Vlasic finished the season compared to the Sharks’ other defensemen, he wasn’t the worst of the bunch. His even-strength defense remains good, or at the very least good enough on a defensively weak team. While he’s not driving play offensively, he can be counted on to log minutes when needed.
And, now that the Sharks are out of a cap crunch, his contract is a little easier to swallow.
Limited uses for Vlasic next season
The downside to Vlasic’s decline is that at this point in his career, it appears that the coaching staff can only rely on the defenseman in even-strength situations. Vlasic was never a power play specialist, but he was, in his prime, the first guy over the boards on the penalty kill. That was not the case last season. Vlasic logged just under 20 minutes on the penalty kill last season. That’s less than a minute per game.
Given that usage, we don’t expect that things will change next season. That would be fine if there were veteran players to pick up the slack. However, on a young and developing team like the Sharks, the coaching staff has to be careful about putting too much pressure on the younger players too quickly. If Grier does not acquire another seasoned defenseman in free agency, it might mean that we seem more of Vlasic next season short-handed, results be damned.
It’s better, in the long run, for the development of young players like Shakir Mukhamadullin, Sam Dickinson, and others if they are brought along at the right pace, rather than thrust into a situation that they’re not ready for. Vlasic may be who the Sharks have to use if there are no other options next season.
Vlasic’s future with the Sharks
Vlasic is entering the final year of a contract that has a $7 million cap hit. It’s an unmovable contract, but it’s nearing the end. He’ll be 39 when it expires and will likely retire when it’s done. While it will be an inauspicious ending to his career, Vlasic will still be one of the greatest defensive-defensemen who has ever skated in teal.
This upcoming season with the Sharks, look for Vlasic to fill the seventh defenseman role and slot in during an injury, unless, as we discussed, he needs to pick up the slack to protect the younger players. He may also be leaned on to give guidance to some of the younger defenseman.
The Sharks will try to move him at the deadline if it means getting him a chance at winning a Stanley Cup, but it’s hard to see a team taking a shot with Vlasic. Grier will do what he can to make it happen for a former teammate, but don’t hold your breath.
Editor’s Note: Over the next few weeks, we will be rolling out the player reviews for the San Jose Sharks. We realize there were a lot of guys rotating into and out of the lineup and some of the key depth players were traded. As a result, Fear the Fin plans to focus on the players who are 1) still with the Sharks even if they are not under contract at the moment and 2) played 20 or more games for San Jose this season.
