With the Sharks missing the playoffs the last couple of years, it’s fair to wonder if some of the veterans may be hoping for a change of scenery. Defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic was among those asked about that today and he told reporters, including Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now, that he has no intention of going anywhere:
I’m here to the end. I’ve signed here for 20 years; I’m going to be here for 20 years. I would’ve signed somewhere else if I didn’t want to be here. I want to win in San Jose.
20 years isn’t an exaggeration either. The 34-year-old just wrapped up his 15th NHL season and still has five years left on his deal with a $7MM AAV. Between that and a no-move clause that Vlasic acknowledged today he didn’t even know he had until recently, it’s safe to say he’ll be in a Sharks uniform for a while yet.
More from the Pacific Division:
- Coyotes goaltenders Darcy Kuemper and Adin Hill will be Canada’s tandem for the upcoming World Championships, TSN’s Darren Dreger reports (Twitter link). This will be Kuemper’s second time at the Worlds after playing in the 2018 event while Hill will be playing at the international level for the first time. It’s worth noting that Hill is a pending restricted free agent and several players have declined offers from their respective countries as a result of the nearing expiration of their contract.
- While meeting with the media to discuss the purchase of his expansion Indoor Football League franchise, Golden Knights owner Bill Foley told the media, including SinBin.Vegas (Twitter link) that a pair of veterans have concerning injuries. Defenseman Alec Martinez has been dealing with a lingering lower-body issue that he was finally unable to play through while winger Max Pacioretty’s upper-body injury is worse than the team initially thought. Martinez missed Monday’s game while Pacioretty has been out for a week with Vegas having to dress just 15 skaters on Monday due to salary cap constraints.
- Having played that game shorthanded, the Golden Knights have now been granted cap-exempt recalls. Their farm team in Henderson announced (Twitter link) that forward Dylan Sikura and defenseman Brayden Pachal have been recalled, suggesting they’ll be in the lineup for Vegas on Wednesday in San Jose. Sikura has been held off the scoresheet in five games this season while if Pachal plays, it will be his NHL debut.
MEV,EK,BB…that’s quite a D you have there-10 years ago.
And will have for another 4 seasons after this, eating up 32.5% of the salary cap! In the words of Nelson Muntz, “Ha Ha!”
While Vlasic got some deserved flak the past couple years, I thought he mostly rebounded defensively this year. They lowered his minutes and put him on the 3rd pairing which took some workload off. Also not having to play as 2 defenseman cause Karlsson is constantly out of position helps!
Worth 7 million a year obviously still doesn’t fit, but when he signed it he was very quietly a top defensive defenseman. Hindsight is 20/20.
All i can say about Vegas is they were lucky not to trade their #1 goalie the flower.. Rob lehner yah right..